BEIJING — The sporting action gets under way at the Beijing Winter Olympics today, two days before the opening ceremony of a Games overshadowed by diplomatic boycotts and concerns about human rights and Covid.
Adopting the catchphrase “Together for a shared future”, China, its ruling Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee hope all the rancour will be forgotten once the Games get into full swing.
The Olympics officially launch on Friday but the sports start later today with mixed-doubles curling.
Beginning its journey to the “Bird’s Nest” stadium for the opening ceremony, a low-key torch relay got going under blue skies despite earlier warnings about pollution.
If the 2008 Summer Games were the country’s coming-out party, these Olympics will take place in a China under President Xi Jinping which is increasingly belligerent on the global stage and boasting the world’s second-largest economy.
When Washington said it would stage a diplomatic boycott because of rights concerns — with Australia, Britain and Canada among those following suit — China warned the United States would “pay the price”.
The Biden administration will not send diplomatic or official representation over what it called China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” against Muslim Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang.
Athletes of the boycotting countries will compete at the Games, which run until February 20, but a US rights monitor sounded the alarm this week over athletes’ safety after the hosts threatened “punishment” for anti-Beijing comments.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China — a group of Washington lawmakers and White House officials — asked US Olympics authorities for an “urgent effort” to protect their stars if they speak out.
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