The Olympic Games come alive in light of the spread of the Corona virus and conflict

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A shimmering party presented to a slim audience – tickets to Olympic events not being sold due to COVIDXi Putin declared friendship with “without borders” Leaders openly support each other’s positions on Ukraine and Taiwan.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Friday that not only bear the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, but also blend sports and world politics as few other countries have done since the Cold War era.

And the glittering opening ceremony of a member of China’s Uighur minority – whose treatment is at the center of international criticism of human rights – ended helping light the Olympic cauldron, hours after Xi announced a new strategic alliance with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read more

Three thousand artists climbed onto a stage featuring 11,600 square meters of high-definition LED screens at the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium, before the crowd weakened due to COVID-19 restrictions. Read more

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Dancers flocked in waving glowing green legs to mark the first day of spring on the Chinese calendar, followed by an explosion of white and green fireworks that spelled the word “spring.”

On a 3D cube resembling a block of ice, lasers carved shapes from each of the 23 previous Winter Games. The block was then “broken” by ice hockey players, enabling the Olympic rings to appear, all in white.

The lighting of the stadium cauldron by the last athlete in the torch relay, their identity kept secret until the last minute, usually climax at the end of the Olympic opening ceremony, this event proved to be particularly important.

Denigir Yelamujiang, a 20-year-old cross-country skier born in Altai in western Xinjiang, lit the torch along with Nordic athlete Zhao Jiaowen.

China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang – which Washington considers genocide – has sparked a diplomatic boycott by many Western countries, including the United States.

ethnic groups

China rejects allegations of human rights abuses and sought to convey a spirit of inclusivity during the ceremony, in which the Chinese flag was passed among 56 people representing its ethnic groups before being hoisted for the national anthem.

The ceremony was hosted by film director Zhang Yimou, reprising his role in the 2008 Beijing Summer Games victory.

But as in Japan half a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed severe restrictions, not least by reducing the number of visitors able to see the spectacle in person.

With China continuing to stick to its “zero Covid” policy despite the Omicron variant spreading rapidly around the world, organizers last month decided not to sell tickets to the public, which remains outside a “closed loop” of competitors and other employees.

Although the Beijing Winter Olympics are smaller in size than the 2008 Games – dubbed “the exit party” in China – the Beijing Winter Olympics are organized by the much more prosperous, stronger, more confident and confrontational China under Xi.

Beijing 2022 Olympics – Opening Ceremony – National Stadium, Beijing, China – February 4, 2022. A general view of the fireworks during the opening ceremony. Today’s Friday Photography by Marco Djurica – SP1EI2412LQJL

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Hours before they began, Xi and Putin revealed their alliance, declaring an “unlimited” friendship between their two countries.

It was a stark reminder of the backdrop to geopolitical rivalry unseen since the mutual boycott of the Cold War in the 1980s, when the United States refused to attend the Olympics in Moscow and the Soviet Union moved away from Los Angeles.

With tensions on both sides of the Eurasian land mass reaching their highest levels in decades, Putin and Xi have publicly taken sides with each other over a range of grievances, most notably Ukraine, where the West accuses Putin of preparing for war.

mutual support

The Russian leader – who hosted his own Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, days before sending troops to seize Crimea in Ukraine – thanked Xi for inviting him, adding: “We know firsthand that this is a huge task.” Read more

In a joint Russian-Chinese statement, Beijing backed Russia’s long-standing call for NATO to halt its expansion – a central demand of Moscow in a dispute with Western countries that say they believe Putin is preparing for war in Ukraine.

Russia, which has deployed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, denies planning the invasion but says it may take unspecified military action unless its security demands are met.

For its part, Moscow said that it fully supports Beijing’s position on Taiwan and opposes Taiwan independence in any way. Read more

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach urged world political leaders to stick to the “Olympic Truce” and “give peace a chance”.

But political leaders from the United States and other Western countries have been absent, after citing the persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, which Beijing denies.

Rights groups accuse China of torture and forced labor and holding a million people in detention camps in Xinjiang.

It calls them the Re-education and Training Facilities, and says it combats religious extremism and denies abuses.

“By selecting a Uyghur athlete to light the torch, China is trying to counter criticism from the West over the genocide or persecution of Uyghurs, and about the inauguration of ethnic minorities,” said Ma Haiyun, an expert on Xinjiang and assistant professor at Frostburg. State University of Maryland.

“But I don’t think this can have much of an impact on the West, which tends to think that most of what China offers is a show anyway.”

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Additional reporting by Yu Lun Tian and Chen Aizhu in Singapore, Gabriel Crossley in Beijing, Vladimir Soldatkin and Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow; Written by Peter Graf and Kevin Levy; Editing by David Evans

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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