One-world dream marks Olympics

Beijing: Resurgent China on Friday opened the Olympics with volleys of fireworks at a spectacular ceremony that wove ancient Chinese history with modern wizardry and aimed to draw a line under months of political controversy.

Drums thundered, firecrackers exploded and 14,000 performers flowed through the Bird's Nest stadium in a dazzling extravaganza that presented a benign image of China and offered up a vision of global harmony echoing the Games' motto "One World One Dream".

In a heart-stopping clim-ax, Li Ning, a Chinese gold medal-winning gymnast, was hoisted high above the stadium on wires.

He simulated racing around the rim before setting the giant Olympic cauldron ablaze.

Around 80 world leaders watched the pageant which celebrated the achievements of imperial China.

Taiwan, classed as a breakaway province by China's rulers, was given a rapturous welcome when its 24 competitors filed through with Iraq's five-strong delegation also attracting warm applause.

However, the Olympic spotlight has also cast a harsh glare on the vast Asian nation, bringing the unrest in its Tibetan region to a wide audience and showing that China's leadership is not ready to brook any internal dissent.