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The February 2022 Winter Games will be held in China. However, not everyone agrees.
About fifty critics of the Chinese government gathered in downtown Vancouver on Sunday to call on the Canadian government to boycott the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, scheduled for next February.
“Support for Beijing 2022 will be seen as an endorsement of China’s severe and widespread crackdown on freedom and human rights,” said Mabel Tung of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democracy.
“We urge everyone to stand on the right side of history and not support the ‘genocide games’.
“The Olympic spirit is meant to be celebrated through diversity, peace, friendship and respect,” said Tung, a vocal local critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime, which controls the People’s Republic of China.
The rally was supported by other human rights groups including Global Pinoy Diaspora Canada, East Turkestan Association of Canada, Organization of Friends of Canada in India, Thai Democratic Movement in Canada, the Vancouver Society of Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights for China, and the Vancouver Society of Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights for China. Uyghur Association.
People waved various independent flags, such as those representing Tibet, Taiwan, East Turkestan, and Hong Kong.
Panels displaying the Beijing Olympic logo were painted in red; protesters linked other political issues to the boycott call, such as displaying a sign that read “Beijing has lied to people died”, in reference to an alleged cover-up of the early stages of the COVID pandemic 19.
Democracy activist Bill Chu of Richmond says Canada must boycott the games despite being a disappointment for athletes.
But Chu wonders if those with the power to do so are willing, noting that the financial interest is at stake.
“There is still some Canadian personal interest in past hopes of securing business from China,” he says.
China will certainly use the games as propaganda, Chu says.
“The CCP has a bad image of the world; they need everything to get up. Businessmen, movie stars and, lately, athletes are under threat. They need everything to tell the world that all is well. It’s up to the world to realize that all is not so well, ”says Chu.
Vancouver is a former Olympic host and typically lights its downtown cauldron to mark the games. Chu says the cauldron should stay dark.
The call for a boycott of games gained significant momentum last week when US President Joe Biden said the country was considering it.
Canada has remained less attached to such considerations.
“Canada remains deeply troubled by disturbing reports of human rights violations in China. To your question, we will continue to discuss this issue with our closest partners, ”Foreign Minister Syrine Khoury spokeswoman said.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) did not respond to Glacier Media for comment. In recent months, he has remained in favor of sending athletes to China.
This year, Canada’s House of Commons voted unanimously to declare that genocide is underway against the Muslim Uyghur people under the leadership of the CCP.
Canadians’ opinion of China is at an all time low since what most Canadians perceive to be the arbitrary detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. A Nanos investigation found that 75% of Canadian respondents wanted Huawei banned from its 5G information technology systems.
And even more momentum for a boycott came last week after China’s top women’s tennis star Peng Shuai allegedly disappeared after she accused a senior CCP official of sexual assault on social media. Chinese.
Censors cleaned up Peng’s post. Since then, state media have shown her in various public places, although the world has not heard from her directly.
The Women’s Tennis Association has threatened to withdraw from China. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) claims to have spoken to him and posted a photo of an apparent video conversation with IOC President Thomas Bach.
The saga has left questions about the safety of athletes in Beijing.
“If the Olympians don’t care what China is doing in Xinjiang, I guess we can’t expect them to be very concerned about the demise of prominent Chinese athlete Peng Shuai. Let the games begin ! David Mulroney, former Canadian Ambassador to China, wrote on Twitter.
The IOC, like China, has a vested interest in seeing all of this go away, ”added Mulroney.
The COC did not respond to questions regarding the safety of the athletes while they were in Beijing.
gwood@glaciermedia.ca
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