Suspicions of Chinese doping unfair- official

BEIJING, June 19 (Reuters) Suspicions that widespread doping of athletes still takes place in China are unfounded and unfair, said the office head at the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) anti-doping commission.

The stain of several doping scandals in the 1990s has proven hard to remove and in the run up to the Beijing Olympics, marked improvements by Chinese athletes continue to raise eyebrows.

''I think it is unfair on us, we have to keep pushing our work and letting people know what we're doing,'' Zhao Jian told Reuters.

''We have had these scandals before, but I think we have learned our lessons. We have made great improvements.'' Zhao is in charge of testing 30,000 to 40,000 elite Chinese athletes, both in and out of competition, from a laboratory in north Beijing.

In 1990, the first full year of operation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accredited facility, the 1,000 or so tests produced 165 positive results.

Last year, just over 50 of 9,000 samples tested contained traces of banned substances, and those were mostly athletes at provincial level testing positive for steroids, Zhao said.

Athletes from sports where doping is more prevalent such as athletics, swimming, cycling, canoeing, wrestling and rowing were targeted, Zhao said.

One weightlifter underwent 12 out of competition tests last year.

''People still have these suspicions, especially of winners,'' he admitted.

''But in track and field and swimming there is very heavy testing, nearly 1,000 tests are carried out on swimmers every year.

''I don't think the swimming team has a problem, we have a very good testing plan for them, I don't think they have much chance to use illegal drugs.'' SECRET SWIMMERS At least two American swimming coaches have suggested that China might have a group of world-beating swimmers training in secret for the Beijing Games to avoid international testing.

Zhao said in the unlikely event that was true, it was ''impossible'' such a group could avoid being tested by his team.

''This is ridiculous,'' he said. ''It's impossible to hide so many athletes.'' China has a lot of prestige invested in next year's Olympics and sports officials have been repeating the mantra that they would rather win no gold medals than have one positive test.

Zhao said even if the worst did happen, he did not think it likely he would come under pressure to suppress a positive test.

''I don't believe that can happen,'' he said.

''By that time everything will be open, everything will be transparent.

''Our testing team will be led by the IOC and our laboratory will be supervised by the IOC and there will be so many experts from other countries working there.

''I don't believe we can cover up anything.'' In a couple of months, Zhao and his 70-strong team of testers and analysts will move next door to a new laboratory where the 4,500 samples taken at the Olympic Games will be tested.

Zhao was reluctant to leave a hostage to fortune by expressing confidence that no Chinese athlete would test positive at next year's Games, but he did think the systems were in place to minimise the danger.

''Our aim is no positive results,'' he said.

''We've got a very good plan to stop any athletes who uses drugs from getting into the national team. They have no chance.

Everybody knows that.'' REUTERS BJR VV1502