A VOCAL gang of about 40 Hiroshima-based Chinese students breathed a sigh of relief as the first batch of mainland athletes arrived yesterday for the Asian Games.
The students, studying at the Hiroshima University, waved Chinese flags and roared with approval as the Chinese athletes emerged on to the mobbed arrival hall of Hiroshima airport.
China had threatened to boycott the Games if Taiwanese deputy-premier Hsu Li-teh was to attend the event.
One of the students, Lu Feng, said: 'We have been waiting for their arrival for six months now.
'We have been practising our chants for that long and we would have been very disappointed had they not come to Hiroshima.
'But they are here now and we are very happy. We will give them as much support as we can.' There were scenes of mayhem at the compact arrival hall as hordes of Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Hong Kong camera crews attempted to get the best vantage points.