With less than a year to go before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, there are growing calls in the international community to boycott the international sporting event. Most embarrassing for Beijing is the fact that issues such as human rights in China’s Xinjiang and Hong Kong continue to fester, provoking very widespread international condemnation and prompting Western countries and many others to form an extremely rare alliance against the Chinese Communist Party. In the past few months, a growing number of countries and civil society organizations, have called for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics and for a change of country of competition.
- The embarrassment of an international boycott
According to Voice of America, in early February, more than 180 advocacy groups around the world signed an open letter calling on governments to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics as a response to the Chinese Communist government’s mass detention of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses. The Canadian Parliament also passed a resolution without dissent, finding that the Chinese Communist Party is practicing ethnocide against the Uighur people in Xinjiang, and calling on the Canadian government to take action to relocate the 2022 Winter Olympics to another city. Meanwhile, several members of the U.S. Congress have initiated a resolution calling on the U.S. government to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics.
According to Deutsche Welle, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also publicly called the persecution of Uighurs by the Chinese Communist Party “genocide” before he left office. Current U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken has endorsed Pompeo’s claim of “genocide,” but the Biden administration has not yet spoken out on whether to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley wrote in her tweet, “We must boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, which would be a major loss for our athletes, but weighing this against the ongoing genocide in China encourages a more horrific future for the Chinese (Communist) Party.”
- the embarrassment of difficult to invite important guests
Affected by the new crown epidemic, human rights in Xinjiang, the Hong Kong issue, Sino-US relations, China-Europe relations and China’s war-wolf diplomacy, the CCP will undoubtedly encounter many embarrassments when inviting international guests to the opening sequence of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
According to Voice of America, Secretary of State Blinken and the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement agreeing with the Chinese government’s massive crackdown and persecution of human rights in Xinjiang, and calling on China to end the oppression of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang and release those already arbitrarily detained by the CCP.
The EU-27 was the first to issue a statement in this round of sanctions, and on February 19 announced sanctions against Xinjiang officials, including a travel ban and freezing of overseas assets and transactions.
So far, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.K. and the EU-27 have joined the sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party internationally, while India, Japan, Taiwan and Myanmar have had tense relations with China. There are also countries that have not openly turned against the CCP, but they are followers of the U.S. and its allies. If the US, Europe and other 32 countries come out to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, the heads of their followers will certainly not be invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, leaving only poor countries such as Russia, North Korea and Africa.
- The embarrassment of epidemic prevention during the event
Just as the countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympics was underway, China introduced “anal swab testing” as a form of epidemic prevention, a move that drew international attention. Although the Chinese side said it is not the only way to test, it still brings embarrassment to Beijing.
As part of its efforts to contain the new coronavirus, China has required some travelers from overseas to undergo invasive anal swab testing, a move that has angered and shocked several foreign governments, including the United States and Japan, according to a March 8 report in the New York Times Chinese website. Official Chinese media acknowledged that some visitors arriving in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are being asked to undergo anal swab testing. However, reports say the exact requirements may vary depending on whether the tourists are considered high-risk.
- Embarrassment of sponsor solicitation
In response to growing international calls for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, most of the IOC’s global sponsors are now silent, but some observers believe this is because sponsors have not yet felt the political pressure, according to a Feb. 24 report on the Voice of America Chinese website. The Voice of America emailed several major sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Audemars Piguet, Samsung, Intel, Gentex, Allianz Life and Omega, hoping to get their response to the boycott calls. But only Omega and Allianz Life responded via email.
Andrew Simbaris, a professor of economics at Smith College and an expert on Olympic economics, said in an interview with the Voice of America that he hoped to get a response from several major sponsors. In an interview with the Voice of America, Sinbaris said the current situation is treacherous, with political figures in the United States, Canada and Australia already supporting the cancellation of Beijing’s hosting rights or a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on the grounds that China’s human rights record violates the Olympic Charter. He said that the current international protests against Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet and other issues continue, which will be very “embarrassing” for China “negative publicity”, and will also affect the reputation of TOP Olympic global partner sponsors, although most of the current Sponsors are not willing to take a stand.
- Embarrassment of government spending
According to Xinhua News Agency on July 31, 2015, the financial budget of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is 1.51 billion USD, 65% of which comes from social investment, for example, the three Olympic villages are all social investment. In addition, 58.41 billion yuan (about $8.3 billion) of investment in the new Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway in 2015 is not included in this budget.
Social investment and the enthusiasm of international sponsors will be affected by the new crown epidemic and boycotts by countries such as the U.S. and Europe. This brings embarrassment to Beijing’s finances, which are already living on debt.
- The embarrassment of too few international spectators
According to the New York Times on March 16, 2021, if we don’t ban American athletes from competing (in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics), American spectators, except for the families of athletes and coaches, should stay home and not contribute to the huge revenues that the Chinese Communist Party receives from hotels, catering and tickets. U.S. companies that routinely send large numbers of clients and partners to watch the Olympics should instead send them to U.S. competition venues. An economic and diplomatic boycott should also include cooperation with NBC, which has done important work in exposing the truth about CCP repression and atrocities. NBC could dispense with any elements of the opening and closing ceremonies that demonstrate extreme patriotism and replace them with coverage of documented CCP human rights violations.
Due to the epidemic and the international boycott, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are bound to see a major drop in international attendance, and the confidence of media agents and sponsors will be diminished as a result. This will undoubtedly look awkward for the organizers.
- The Embarrassment of Rights Defenders
Whether it is a visit by a major Communist Party leader or a major event in China, there will be a lot of disturbances by rights activists.
According to a December 31, 2008 report by Radio Free Asia, during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, local petitioners in Beijing submitted applications to the Olympic Organizing Committee for demonstrations, but were not approved. Yang Qiuyu told reporters, “There were several thousand visitors at the site, and they rushed to the CCDI site at around 4 a.m. to line up. The purpose of the application march was to protest the illegal detention of the visitors by the local government.”
More than 20 years later, there are at least several times more petitioners in China than there were then, and many of them have traveled to the United States to intercept Communist Party leaders on their trips in order to seek justice. It is certain that China’s visitors will not let go of such opportunities as the Beijing Winter Olympics.
- The Embarrassment of Human Rights in Xinjiang
Will the Chinese authorities allow journalists from all over the world to go to Xinjiang to cover the Winter Olympics in Beijing? This is the most embarrassing question for Beijing.
According to the official website of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 4, 2021, when Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hosted a regular press conference, a Bloomberg reporter asked, “What does the Foreign Ministry have to say about the Australian government’s call for the Chinese side to allow UN officials immediate and unhindered access to Xinjiang to conduct meaningful investigations?”
Wang Wenbin: We welcome foreign people from all walks of life, including relevant officials of the new U.S. administration, to visit Xinjiang and have a look around. At the same time, we are also firmly opposed to any country or person interfering in internal affairs under the banner of human rights, and to anyone advocating a so-called “investigation” in Xinjiang with a presumption of guilt.
According to China News, a foreign media reporter said at a March 29 press conference on Xinjiang issues held jointly by the Foreign Ministry and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that he had heard that foreign journalists would be followed by police when they went to Xinjiang for interviews. Xinjiang’s official spokesman Xu Guisang responded that such a situation does not exist.
As can be seen, the international community is very concerned about the possibility of free access to Xinjiang during the Beijing Winter Olympics. But for the Chinese Communist Party, Xinjiang and Tibet have long been off-limits to the press.
- The embarrassment of Hong Kong issue
On March 5, 2021, nearly 200 people from all walks of life recently participated in a global joint campaign to show solidarity with democracy in Hong Kong and call for a boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, according to a report by the French broadcaster.
The English version of the statement was sent to officials at the U.S. State Department, the House of Representatives and the White House on March 5,” Wang Dan, the campaign’s founder, told Radio Free Asia.
The statement said that the Chinese Communist regime “has taken on the character of a fascist regime and is unworthy of hosting an international sporting event of the magnitude of the Olympic Games,” given its multiple tyrannies in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and China, and its continued threat to Taiwan’s free and democratic institutions.
In recent years, the international community has been highly concerned about the Hong Kong issue, which cannot be avoided when Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics next year.
- Embarrassment of the International Olympic Committee
According to China Human Rights Fortnightly, the dilemma facing the IOC’s business operation model should actually be a dilemma for the international human rights community. During the global economic boom, when many countries wanted to get addicted to hosting the Olympic Games, the IOC abided by the Olympic Charter and sent human rights commitments as a package, not afraid to disagree with the host country; but now that democratic countries are following public opinion and watching their wallets, the IOC has very little room for choice, and human rights principles are reduced to a mere formality.
Since Xi Jinping took office, he has been facing a brutal and fierce power struggle at the top politically for the sake of decorating the world, the “Troika” has died economically, and the unemployment problem will be a dark cloud that cannot be dispelled during his term. Faced with the situation of public discontent, there must be a “peaceful event” to embellish the “Xi decade”, so of course, holding the Olympic Games is the first choice.
Since the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics bid, international human rights organizations have issued statements protesting the IOC’s decision. The IOC was embarrassed by the international community’s outcry. Of course, the louder the international opposition, the greater the benefits to the IOC, because the Chinese Communist dictatorship loves to eat this up.
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