OLYMPIC GAMES:THE BEIJING Olympics will help to improve the human rights situation in China, according to a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official.
Francois Carrard, a former IOC director general, says the intense spotlight of this summer's games will force China's government to enhance its reputation.
"If the Games were not awarded to China the (human rights) situation would not have progressed," he told the BBC. "This is a contribution to progress, an accelerating factor."
China's human rights record has been under scrutiny ever since Beijing was awarded the Olympics in 2001, and the IOC pledged to monitor the situation.
Campaigners say China has not fulfilled its promise to make improvements in the build-up to the Games, but the Chinese government flatly denies the accusation.
Speaking to the BBC, Carrard - the IOC's legal advisor - admitted it might not be possible to identify any advances in the immediate future, but he maintained his optimism that the benefits would be felt in the long-term future.
"I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if China had not been awarded the Games - there is interest from the media and people concerned by what are very important issues
"The monitoring has gone on ever since (Beijing was awarded the Games)," said Carrard.
"Human rights is an overwhelming concern for all IOC members. The issue of human rights is not satisfactory in many countries around the world today, not only in China.
"But I'm convinced that when we look at this with the perspective of history we will see that the Olympic Games will have been an opportunity for considerable progress. Whether we can judge this now, just before the Games, after the Games or well after the Games remains to be seen.
"One must never forget that China has a time-frame which is totally different from the rest of the world and progress can not always be measured by the same time standard," he said.
"We want immediate progress, we want things to happen within the next six months or a year, but China has another pace."
The IOC always felt it could not keep the Games away from the world's most populated country, but opposition has intensified in recent months.
Earlier this month, film director Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic advisor to the event, accusing China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in Darfur.
"I respect what Mr Spielberg says but, respectfully, I totally disagree with him," Carrard said.
Meanwhile, a coalition of international athletes has been formed under the name Team Darfur and is campaigning heavily in the lead-up to the Games.
Kenya's Susan Chepkemei (32), has been handed a one-year ban after failing a drugs test. The former Commonwealth 10,000 metres silver medallist tested positive for salbutamol in September.
