President Arroyo arrived in Beijing Thursday night to attend the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games later on Friday.

This is not just China’s grand coming out party. The Beijing Olympics will also be a venue for world leaders to forge their friendship with an emerging economic super power saddled with human rights and environmental problems within its borders.

President Arroyo will have two meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, a formal lunch reception later Friday and bilateral talks on Saturday.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila said this is clear proof of the Philippines’ strong relations with China despite the aborted and controversial national broadband network deal.

Ahead of President Arroyo, US President George W. Bush arrived in Beijing Friday afternoon.

He is the first US president to attend this world athletic competition on foreign soil.

An avid sports fan, he said, he wants to enjoy the Summer Olympics competition, but he will also talk to President Hu Jintao about other things which include what he describes as deep concerns about human rights in China and his firm opposition to the arrests and detention of activists here.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Rasa Gilani also arrived in Beijing taking the place of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who opted not to go, following an impeachment motion against him.

Musharraf’s political enemies in Pakistan said they will impeach Pakistan’s president for plunging the country into political and economic crisis.

The move is likely to deepen political uncertainty in the nuclear-armed Muslim nation, a key US ally.

Prime minister Gilani said he took it upon himself to come to replace Mushharaf  because Pakistan has excellent relations with China whom it considers as its time-tested friend.

With only hours to go before the Olympic games kick off Beijing is still covered in haze.

At the city’s landmark Tiananmen Square however, there are differing opinions about air pollution. Foreign tourists expressed their concern while locals are more confident about the air they breath. Nadia Trinidad, ABS-CBN News