We, the most westernized of the Chinese, have faith in our future. Our country still has far to travel but we, the Chinese, are ready for the journey.

China has its own culture, its own history, its own spirit. Sociology is not an exact science like mathematics – there are far too many variables to arrive at any 'universal model' of absolutes in this sphere.

China is evolving and the people of China are evolving. The Communist Party too is evolving. Old school conservatives are moving on, and being replaced by a younger generation that is much more open and pragmatic. Allow us a little time, and leave the development of China in our hands, in the hands of the young Chinese in foreign lands who will bring back from their travels the best of the West's systems and structures to China.

Go yourselves to China to see the whole story – a China that is not shown to you by so much of the Western media. Go to Tibet and look with your own eyes on the 'cultural genocide', if you can find it. See for yourselves if the Tibetan language is facing extinction. Find out for yourselves whether the monks are free to practice their religion, whether the Tibetans do not fare better than under the Theocracy of the Dalai Lama - talk to older Tibetans about that unforgettable 'Buddhist paradise'.

We must have more direct communication and a better mutual understanding, and we are ready to make our contribution.

The Olympic Games have the support of we students, and they have the support of this people that makes up one fifth of humanity.

To whom do the Olympics truly belong?

To you, to me, to us, to all of us, to all the peoples of the world. They are not a political plaything. Leave them alone, you politicians and your lackeys, and you anti-Chinese movements. Leave them alone, they belong to us. Stop trying to wreck these Games.

China as host country wants to offer the finest of gifts to the world. Millions of Chinese have worked for years to this end. With open arms they have prepared a welcome for the whole of the world.

As the flame travels the world the simple and heartfelt message it carries is this: Come. The people of China have prepared for you a celebration for all of humanity.

When certain media gloat over the blow to China's esteem after the undignified passage through Paris of that torch of peace and friendship between peoples, they are in a sense right. But the blow was not to China, but to the people of China, and to the people of France, and to all those who love the Olympic Games.

Many fear China, and this fear is born of ignorance. All the more reason, then, for direct exchanges through we who represent this solid and faithful bridge of friendship.

We consider that China's culture is one of peace. Our history shows that we have been repeatedly subject to aggression, invaded by peoples who almost invariably themselves became assimilated into China.