Uyghurs and other Muslims pray at a mosque in Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region during a state-organised visit by foreign journalists in April 2021.
Wu Hong/EPA
The International Olympic Committee’s position is clear. Human rights be damned. Refugees be damned. The Games must go on. The rest is window dressing.
A woman poses for a photo with a statue of the Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen near the Olympic Green in Beijing on Jan. 12, 2022.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The Olympics, and all “mega sports,” are inevitably embedded in the political contexts of their times. To dismiss or bypass the political issues that arise seems naïve at best.
Protesters rally against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Los Angeles in December.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
China has been unfazed by diplomatic boycotts by the west. In Beijing’s eyes, the Olympics still have broad support by many nations and, importantly, corporate sponsors.
The boycott is ambiguous and will undermine the value of sport in diplomacy.
After President Joe Biden called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, other countries are following suit.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Boris Minkevich
Australia has followed the United States in announcing it will send athletes, but no officials, to the winter games in February 2022 - a move unlikely to make much political difference.
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The editor of a Communist Party newspaper posted a video online that he said showed missing tennis star Peng Shuai as the ruling party tried to quell fears abroad while suppressing information in China about Peng after she accused a senior leader of sexual assault.
(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
The disappearance of Peng further underlines the need for an international boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The CCP’s assaults on democracy activists deserve more than willful blindness.
Will anodyne reporting from the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics play into China’s propaganda efforts?
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
In the face of China’s repression and human rights abuses, a scholar asks whether cheerful media coverage of the Beijing Olympics in February 2022 signals complicity with Chinese propaganda.
Beijing 2022 is on track to be the most politically-charged games ever.
Children wave national flags and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games flags during a welcome ceremony for the Frame of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in October, 2021.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Olympians and Paralympians can uplift the voices of Celil’s family and supporters by calling for his release over the next four months. Academics, journalists and activists should join in solidarity.
Activists wearing masks of IOC President Thomas Bach and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose in front of the Olympic Rings during a street protest in India against the holding of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
Olympic broadcasters can help Canadians support the Uyghurs, Tibetans, pro-democracy advocates and others fighting for their human rights in China by cancelling their Olympic coverage.
Attendees wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus look at an exhibit at a visitors center at the Winter Olympic venues in Beijing in February. Human rights groups have called for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics due to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Instead of boycotting the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, activists should pressure the IOC to let anyone attending the Games to express their views on China without fear of penalization.
There are mounting calls for a boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
While governments and some athletes are opposed to a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, failing to take a stand against China’s human rights record has consequences.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing next February. Those opposed to China’s human rights violations are calling for a boycott. That’s a complicated form of protest.
More than 200 gene variants have been linked to outstanding sporting performance and this number could increase as we continue to research the link between genetics and athlete performance.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Genetic testing could help us build targeted and effective training routines for athletes, but the emerging science could also introduce opportunity for discrimination in the sporting world.
Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University