Tokyo might want to emphasize its stability when briefing members of the International Olympic Committee this week on its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, a Taiwanese IOC member has suggested.
Wu Ching-kuo, an executive board member of the IOC, said in a recent interview that every board member has preferences, but he personally would like to see the candidate cities send a clear message that they are capable of pulling off the world's largest sporting extravaganza in a peaceful environment.
"The vote will be held by secret ballot among the some 100 IOC members, so the members' personal preferences are key references for their decisions," Wu said, adding that one might care more about security, while another might attach more weight to public support.
Tokyo, which is competing with Istanbul and Madrid for the 2020 Olympics, received high marks from the IOC Evaluation Commission last week for its proposal to host a compact Games in which 85 percent of competition venues would be located within an 8-km radius.
In the report, which does not rank cities in any hierarchy but is an overall risk analysis of hosting the Games, the Commission noted Tokyo's fluid transportation network and financial soundness, but it also mentions the fact that Japan is situated in a zone prone to earthquakes and tsunami.
Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose will deliver the city's pitch to IOC members as the three candidate cities will make yet another presentation at an IOC meeting in Lausanne on Wednesday.
All three bid teams have made presentations twice, in St. Petersburg, Russia, in May and in Lausanne in June.
They will make their last presentations to the IOC members in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7, when the host city will be announced.
Apart from naming the host city for the 2020 Summer Games, the IOC board will also elect a successor to IOC President Jacques Rogge, who took office in 2001. Wu is among several candidates running for the top IOC post.