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Dear President of the SPC
Dear Ambassador
Dear guests from sports, the economy and government
Dear Paralympic family
and above all: dear athletes!

On behalf of the Swiss government I welcome you in the Swiss residence.
It is an honour, and a pleasure, that so many of you have accepted our invitation.
Strengthening human bonds and friendship across all borders belongs to sports, just as the Matterhorn to Switzerland, or Swiss timing to the Olympic Games.
I wish that this reception will also foster warm encounters.

Dear athletes, trainers and officials
"To participate is more important than to win" was the motto of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The 29th Olympic Games that closed two weeks ago have often suggested the reverse:

Participation is just an intermediate step.
The main goal is top performance, and, if possible, victory.

This is also true for the Paralympic Games: The competition has become more intense, the number of participating states has, over four years, increased from 135 to 150.
Citius! Altius! Fortius! - faster, higher, stronger: The motto of the ancient Olympic Games is more alive than ever, after 2500 years. The paralympic sports, at the highest level, calls for full commitment, for the almost impossible improvement of performance: Citius - Altius - Fortius, again and again.
Without reserve, without compromises, with the goal in view.
This is one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin relates to sports ethics and exemplary behaviour, and these must be called for with just the same clarity and insistence:

We want clean sports - Doping is cheating and damages health. The Latin word for healthy is sane.
We want fair sports - the rules must be observed. In Latin the word is civiliter.
We don't want top performance at any price. Reasonable, in Latin, is prudenter.

Thus our message is not just Citius - Altius - Fortius, but also sane! civiliter! prudenter!
In short:
We want sports, including at the peak level, to be humane. Sports with responsibility, reason and a sense of proportions.Sports with: Passion.Power.Performance. I look forward to your performance, and I wish you success.

Dear Swiss compatriots in China, it is a pleasure to me to meet you on this occasion. This reception is the proof that sports brings people together. It offers me, as a member of the Swiss Government a chance to see in what a dynamic and booming city you live. I also see the disparities that you face in your every day life. I can assure you that the Swiss abroad are a strong concern for the Swiss government and I cherish the occasion to spend - on the occasion of the Beijing Olympics -some time with you.

Ladies and Gentlemen
Yesterday evening I experienced the impressive opening ceremony of the  Paralympics Games 2008. I haven't seen handicapped people, but just people who have overcome their handicap.
Athletes who convert the obstacles of reality into roads to freedom. People whose energy and joy of life shine as bright as the fireworks on the sky of Beijing.
In the following days I can witness this joy as I will participate in some Sports competitions and meet some of my counterparts of the Chinese government in charge of Military and Sports. My thanks and my great recognition go to the International Paralympic Committee IPC and to the Organisation Committee of the Paralympic Games 2008.
I am sure that the games will be held in a good atmosphere and that they will be perfectly organized. Games where the 4000 athletes in 20 disciplines will compete under conditions worthy of Olympics. In particular I thank that all physical obstacles have been removed, more thoroughly than ever, so that all participants can have limitless encounters.
Thank you!
I would also like to thank the Swiss Paralympic Committee SPC with its Mission Chief Ruedi Spitzli, and our embassy.

Last but not least I thank you, dear guests, for being with us at this reception.
I am impressed by your solidarity with Switzerland and its Paralympic team.
Together with you I look forward to the days to come.

Passion.Power.Performance!
Good luck!   
Bonne chance à nos athlèthes de la Suisse romande!
Buona fortuna!
Wan Shi Ru Yi!
Machet's guet - mir si stolz uf öich!

"Passion.Power.Performance."