Preparations for 2022 Beijing Olympics are in full swing in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping himself toured the Olympic facilities and inspected the preparatory work on Monday. The President visited both host cities Zhangjiakou and Beijing and met with coaches, athletes, staff and heads of operations team.
After the tour “Xinhua”, a Chinese news agency quoted Xi Jinping saying, “I’m very gratified to see the preparations are well under day and the athletes’ training is producing obvious results”. He added that preparations were a high priority for the Communist Party, and the party and the public had given the events tremendous moral and material support.
Amidst the preparations, there have been calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics across the world due to Human rights violations in China. The Chinese govt. is accused of repressing Uighurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities, forcing them in camps and practicing forced sterilization.
Also Read: Countdown for Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony begins: Take a peak at Biden’s cabinet picks
Also Read: Coronavirus inoculation drive Day 4: 3.81 lakh vaccinated so far, Bharat Biotech issues fact sheet
In September 2020, 160 Human rights organizations wrote to International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move the venue for the 2022 Olympics out of China. The letter written to the IOC urged it to change the venue on the basis that one of the core principles of the Olympic charter is established on ‘human dignity’. Concerns regarding the safety of players competing in the Olympics amid the pandemic have also emerged.
A mass boycott is a far cry as of now but countries have not ruled out its possibility.
