Olympic Bosses Criticized for Letting China Play Politics at Beijing Games, While Athletes Are Muzzled
Olympic chiefs tried to distance themselves from a Chinese official’s claim that reports of massive human rights abuses in the province of Xinjiang were just “lies”—but without saying anything that might actually offend their hosts at the Beijing Winter Games.
A Chinese foreign ministry official serving as the spokeswoman for Beijing 2022, Yan Jiarong, blew up the careful facade of political neutrality at the Olympics on Thursday when she used a joint press conference with the IOC to launch into political diatribes.
In a jaw-dropping performance, Yan repeatedly interrupted as reporters asked IOC spokesman Mark Adams about the repression of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang province, and whether Taiwan had been coerced into participating in the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing.