204-02-10
Reposted! WHO Director-General Tedros Expresses Opposition to the Political Exploitation of the Origins Investigation
February 9, 2022
The following is from an editorial published in today’s Sankei Shimbun under the headline “Blatant Politicization Has Gone Too Far.”
This editorial, too, demonstrates that the Sankei Shimbun is the most sensible newspaper today.
It is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide, especially those who earn their living through the United Nations and the IOC.
The political exploitation of the Beijing Winter Olympics has gone too far.
Emphasis in the text is mine.
At the opening ceremony, the final torchbearers were Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a female athlete from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and a male athlete of Han Chinese ethnicity.
The intention was presumably to project ethnic harmony in response to the diplomatic boycott by the United States, Britain, Australia, and others protesting human rights repression in the region, but the scene appeared to be nothing more than a provocative display of hypocrisy.
Dinigeer competed in the cross-country skiing skiathlon on February 5, finishing 43rd, but did not appear before reporters after the race.
The following day, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported her impressions of the opening ceremony: “It will remain deeply etched in my heart for the rest of my life.”
Naturally, there was no mention of human rights issues.
Regarding the selection of torchbearers, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, “The claim that there is genocide in Xinjiang is the lie of the century.”
President Xi Jinping held a series of Olympic diplomatic meetings with authoritarian leaders attending the opening ceremony, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Yet Russia was under sanctions for state-sponsored doping violations, and Putin himself was barred from attending the Olympics.
An exception permitting attendance when invited by the host country’s head of state was reportedly applied, but an invitation from Xi clearly runs counter to the principles of the fight against doping.
There is no indication, however, that International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach challenged Xi on this point.
Bach also held meetings inside the Olympic bubble with tennis player Peng Shuai, who had alleged that a former Chinese vice premier coerced her into sexual relations, and emphasized that she was “safe.”
There was no reason to expect that she could speak freely under the authorities’ control, and Bach effectively lent a hand to China’s propaganda efforts.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres met with Xi and expressed hope that a visit to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet would be “credible,” but the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that “the purpose is to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.”
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Premier Li Keqiang and, according to the Chinese side’s announcement, said that “the WHO opposes the politicization of the origins investigation.”
Amid the confusion caused by repeated “disqualifications” in events such as ski jumping and short-track speed skating, China’s political propaganda alone is steadily advancing.
As feared before the opening ceremony, the Beijing Winter Olympics are taking on the appearance of a deeply abnormal Games.