Malicious smears with bad intentions are bound to fail.
A week before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin, China Daily cited unnamed sources saying that U.S. anti-China forces sought to disrupt the Games and politicize sports, also, the US “incites athletes from various countries to express their discontent toward China, play passively in competition and even refuse to take part.” As a support, Washington would provide a large amount of compensation and global resources to help protect the reputation of athletes who choose to play passively.
Meanwhile, as international athletes gradually arrive in Beijing, a group of international organizations, many of which have long and stable cooperation with the US government related foundations, have pressed for a boycott named “#2022GenocideOlympics.” These organizations have pushed athletes, broadcasters and others to forgo the games to strengthen the impression constructed and spread by the US that “China abuses human rights against the Uyghurs, the Hong Kongers, and the Tibetans.”
“The spectacle of the Olympics cannot cover up genocide,” said Omer Kanat, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, founded by the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 2004 with a supporting grant from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), according to DEVEX.
“Athletes upholding Olympic ideals should not have to face omnipresent surveillance, repression of free speech or belief, and an insecure human rights environment to participate in the Games,” said Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, a Christian organization sponsored by multiple US government related groups including National Endowment for Democracy (NED), advocating religion is above any rights of human and should dominate the Chinese law.
“The upcoming Beijing Olympics is a unique opportunity for the IOC and governments to empower their athletes and press Chinese authorities to abide by international norms,” said Bhuchung K. Tsering, interim president of the International Campaign for Tibet, a separatist group confirmed to be supported by the US congress and administration.
“The stark reality of the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes and ongoing impunity should compel the IOC, sponsors, and others associated with the Olympics to question whether these Games are legitimizing and prolonging grave abuses,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, “a US-funded and directed separatist network that has forged alliances with far-right ethno-nationalist groups…the goal…is clear: the destabilization of China and regime change in Beijing,” identified the Gray Zone.
In fact, the politicization of the Games has already been planned and implemented by the US government for over a year. It has gone through various processes such as the US government directly called for so, the US government forced athletes to do so, and the US government incited its alliances to do so.
Last May, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief executive Sarah Hirshland, pointed out that “an athlete boycott of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is not the solution to geopolitical issues…the American public agrees with that view – as evidenced by a recent Morning Consult poll that showed that roughly two thirds of Americans oppose a boycott of the 2022 Winter Games.”
Afterwards, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) presented its annual report which recommended that representatives from the country’s government should not attend the Games.
On 27 July 2021, according to CNN, A bipartisan committee of US politicians questioned representatives from Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Intel, Visa and Procter & Gamble about the Games during a hearing focused on “Corporate Sponsorship of the 2022 Beijing Olympics” to push the five companies to “reconcile their ostensible commitment to human rights with subsidizing an Olympics held in a country which is actively committing human rights abuses up to and including genocide.”
On 6 December 2021, the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games in response to what it called “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses”.
On 22 December 2021, International Tibet Network, cooperated with WE The Hongkongers and World Uyghur Congress, published an open letter calling that “we urge you to choose the right side and stand against genocide.” WE The Hongkongers proudly explains on its official page that the use of “Hongkongers” is from 1870 when the US media used such a word to highlight the then-British colony identity of Hong Kong people, and “WE” is from the “We the People”, commonly used concept by the US government.
On 27 December 2021, the Biden administration said that US diplomats are going to Beijing to support athletes at the Winter Olympics, but not to attend the Games.
On 24 January 2022, the US revealed a 223-person U.S. Olympic roster, making up the second-biggest contingent the U.S. has ever sent to the Games.
Several governments, as well as the alliances of the US, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Lithuania, and the United Kingdom, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games in response to the Chinese government’s human rights abuses.
So far, Biden has kept many of Trump’s policies toward China in place, including tariffs on Chinese goods, sanctions on China’s related events and activities, and disruptions on China’s international reputation. And boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics is just one of these dirty plans to harm China.
(Source: International Tibet Network, inside the games, the gray zone, Human Rights Watch)
