Politics yesterday entered the Olympics when an official for the Beijing Winter Games spoke about Taiwan and Xinjiang, the first such statements by the host since the competition started.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams was asked a question at the daily news conference about Taiwan’s presence at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
Following his comments, Beijing Games spokesperson Yan Jiarong said: “There is only one China.”
Her statement reiterates China’s stance toward democratically governed Taiwan.
Later, Yan again insisted on making a statement about Xinjiang when a reporter directed a question to the IOC about material from China’s Xinjiang region being used in clothing.
“The so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is lies made up by deliberate groups,” Yan said.
Human rights groups have accused some textile companies that source materials from Xinjiang of ignoring abuses against Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the region.
The Chinese government denies all accusations of abuse and has repeatedly denied claims that it runs a network of forced labor camps in Xinjiang.
Amid a diplomatic boycott by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, New Zealand, the UK and the US over China’s human rights records, the IOC has tried to keep politics out of the Beijing Winter Games.
Athletes have been told to stick to the IOC’s Rule 50, which bans political statements on the medals podium and in competitions.
The rule, slightly revised ahead of last year’s Tokyo Summer Games to allow for some protests on the field of play if first cleared with the IOC, was thrust into the spotlight in the run-up to the Olympics.
“We are always against the idea of politicizing the Games. The IOC has 206 members, including the Peoples’ Republic of China and the National Olympic Committee of Chinese Taipei,” Yan said.
Taiwan took part in the Games’ opening ceremony after the team said they had received “several notices” by the IOC to attend both the opening and closing ceremonies.
Last month, the team had initially said that they could not attend due to delayed flights and COVID-19 restrictions.
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