Sometimes it takes a single dazzling athletic feat to ignite the Olympic spirit. China’s Winter Games may yet capture the imagination of the world’s spectators. The Tokyo Olympics, though unpopular in Japan due to fears of Covid’s spread, provided welcome diversion for many. Even so, they lacked the energy of previous Games, and so far Beijing’s event is still more muted. Winter sports such as curling lack the broad appeal of sprinting or swimming. China’s commitment to a zero-Covid strategy has kept its citizens well away from the Games, and the Games well away from its citizens. But above all, a pall has been cast by the oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, with the US, the UK and others mounting a diplomatic boycott.
In 2008, the excitement of the moment largely drowned out domestic and overseas criticism of China’s human rights record. The charge sheet is longer and graver these days, and China harsher in responding. Beijing and the International Olympic Committee insist that the Games must not be politicised. Athletes have been warned against speaking out.
