UPDATE 1-Olympics-Opening gala wins raves, raises questions

(Writes through)

By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Audiences around the world gave rave reviews to the Beijing Olympics opening extravaganza on Saturday, but some questioned the heavy military theme and the show got a decidedly mixed reaction from political rival Taiwan.

Political controversy has dogged Beijing since it was awarded the Games seven years ago, but the opening gala on Friday aimed to shift the focus towards themes of sport and friendship with its spectacle of fireworks, drums and dancers.

"It was spectacular, really unbelievable," said First Lady Laura Bush, who attended with President George W. Bush.

"One of the best I've ever seen," said former American sprinter Michael Johnson, a guest commentator on the BBC.

Chinese media acclaimed the ceremony as a moment when national achievements and ambitions won acceptance on a world stage, putting aside rancour over issues such as China's policy towards Sudan and its crackdown on unrest in Tibet.

"This great performance was a brilliant distillation of 5,000 years of glorious history," the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily (www.people.com.cn) said. "China will embrace the world with openness, self-confidence and warmth."

But in neighbouring Taiwan, the self-governed island China has claimed as its own since the end of the civil war in 1949, the show had mixed reviews, despite Taiwan athletes being greeted with thunderous applause in the Bird's Nest.

"First-class technology, second-class performance and no class on context," the China Times quoted one resident as saying.

"It's like one giant cinema, splendid but empty," another wrote on the Internet.

And the pro-independence Taipei Times slammed the entire Games as a series of broken pledges by an authoritarian regime.

"It started with grim paramilitary goons in blue track-suits accompanying the Olympic torch on its embarrassing tour of democratic countries," the English-language daily said.

"And now the Games begin with broken promises on press freedom and shipping in party members to forcibly replace ordinary Chinese hoping to see the torch relay."

Overseas, some asked whether it was right to include goose-stepping soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald wondered if Zhang Yimou, the Chinese filmmaker who directed the show, was misguided in showcasing China's military strength at a time the country is trying to reassure the world about its rapid rise.