Chapter 12 FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASIAN SPORT assembly simply for electing a president. Zhenliang further observed that, un­ der the current conditions in Asian sport, changing the method of producing the leader of the Olympic Council of and returning to the traditional way ofthe Federation, in which the host country of that Asian Games assumed the presidency, and at the same time establishing a strong and effec­ tive international secretariat to handle the daily work, would better benefit the unity and development of the Asian sport. Zhenliang felt that, in order to make everyone understand this point, it needed some time for carrying out discussions and consultations. So, he suggested that the General Assembly of the should be postponed until December in Hiroshima or .

Furuhashi completely agreed with Zhenliang. Hayashi added that it would be best if the president were elected from the host country of the previous Asian Games so that he could supervise the work for the next games. Zhenliang also proposed that, before the Board meeting, the national Olympic commit­ tees of should hold a consultation. The Japanese agreed with this proposal and further wished to take on the task of hosting the consultation.

At that time, the acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia, Roy de Silva () also visited Beijing. At his request, Zhenliang met with him. Roy de Silva already knew that Zhenliang would not run in the election, and felt that the position of interim president would benefit him in the presi­ dential election. Therefore, he did not seek the opinions ofthe various countries, paying no attention to the decision of the Board at the beginning of 1991, and forcing the matter by deciding to convene a special general assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia in September in New . Although Zhenliang explained the pros and cons to him, he would not clearly promise to postpone convening the general assembly.

After deliberation for some time, the Japanese Olympic Committee in­ vited the East Asian national Olympic Committees to meet Tokyo on Sep- 279