Xi to open Asian Games as China targets sporting glory

HANGZHOU, China -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will declare the Asian Games open at a glittering ceremony in Hangzhou on Saturday, kickstarting a sporting behemoth that boasts more athletes than the Olympics.

After being delayed by a year due to China's strict zero-Covid regime, more than 12,000 competitors from 45 nations across Asia and the Middle East are in the eastern city to compete in 40 sports.

Xi is scheduled to open proceedings officially in one of the country's most prosperous regions, in front of invited guests including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad -- on his first visit to China since war erupted in Syria in 2011 -- will join leaders from ally Cambodia, Kuwait, and Nepal, among others at Hangzhou's Olympic stadium, state media said.

The Games are "likely to be China's post-pandemic soft power exercise in the fully packed stadium with the presence of political and business leaders in Asia," Jung-Woo Lee, sport policy expert at the University of Edinburgh, told AFP.

But the Games have already been rocked by a row between New Delhi and China, with a trip to Hangzhou by India's sports minister cancelled on Friday.

It followed three women martial arts fighters from the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh claiming they were denied accreditation, a move China disputed.

The northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed almost in full by Beijing, which calls it "South Tibet".

China's status as a sporting destination took a severe hit during the first three years of the pandemic, when snap lockdowns and travel rules saw almost all international events cancelled in the country.

- 'Open to all' -

The hosts are overwhelming favourites to top the medals table, boosting a huge nearly 900-strong delegation,