Dutch players competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing have been advised to leave their personal mobile phones and laptops at home owing to surveillance concerns in China. The Dutch Olympic Committee Dutch Sports Federation (NOCNSF) has issued an urgent warning to its Olympic squad that China may conduct electronic device monitoring during the Games.
According to the Dutch daily the Volkskrant, the NOC*NSF will provide phones and computers to athletes and support personnel, which will be burned when they return home from the Chinese capital. The NOC*NSF thinks that the action will prevent Chinese state operatives from interfering with the event. This move comes as no surprise because China already has a government-run mass surveillance programme in which its inhabitants are continually observed.
At least 30 Dutch athletes will compete in the Olympic Games in Beijing next month, largely in speed and short track skating events.
