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| Chinese President Xi Jinping meets and shakes hands with IOC Chairman Thomas Bach, who visited the Beijing People’s Congress to confirm the preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is approaching a year ahead, but unexpected variables have been met. This is because the recent US and European media reported on human rights abuses in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and boycott movements are taking place not only in civic groups, but also in some of the US politics.
The testimony of the’reeducation camp’ in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, reported by the BBC on the 3rd (local time), is shocking. This is because testimony has erupted that not only sadistic torture, but also systematic rape and sexual abuse against women.
A Uighur woman who was imprisoned for nine months in a detention facility and exiled to the United States revealed that “a lot of women were taken every night and raped by men in suits and masks,” and “I was also raped by two or three people three times.” did.
A 42-year-old woman named Tursunai Giaudun said, “I couldn’t say anything when I returned to the room where 14 people were imprisoned after suffering this kind of thing,” and “they were aiming to destroy the soul.”
There were also testimonies that systematic rape was committed. A woman from Uzbekistan who taught Chinese at the detention facility testified that “rape was a culture, as women were taken away during class and their screams spread throughout the building.”
Another woman claimed that “I saw prison guards publicly gang rape a woman about the age of 20 or 21,” and “the guards picked and tortured prisoners who held their fists, closed their eyes, or turned away from the sight.”
This is not the first human rights issue in the Uighur Autonomous Region. The Associated Press reported that in June last year, abortion and infertility were forcibly performed in the Uighur Autonomous Region, and the birth rate of Uyghurs fell sharply.
In the end, international human rights groups have urged a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics for human rights abuses. According to AFP, the coalition, which included about 180 human rights organizations, issued an open letter urging world leaders to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics.
They said in their letter, “World leaders should boycott the Olympics so that the Winter Olympics are not abused to intensify the Chinese government’s terrible human rights abuses and repressions.”
Some US senators also submitted resolutions to withdraw the Beijing Winter Olympics. Six Republican Senators, including Florida Senator Rick Scott, submitted a resolution to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics should be hosted by a “country that recognizes and respects human rights”.
In a statement, Congressman Scott emphasized, “China is committing genocide against the Xinjiang Uighurs, restricting the human rights of Hong Kong people, and threatening Taiwan.” “Communist China should not allow the 2022 Olympics to be held.”
Corona 19, which has recently been reviving in Beijing, etc., is likely to act as a variable. China also issued a blockade when Corona 19 rapidly re-proliferated in Beijing, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning.
Chinese media are reporting that the number of confirmed cases has plunged again due to regional blockades, but Europe and the United States are still questioning China’s opaque information.
The World Health Organization (WHO) investigation team is also facing such a problem. The WHO investigation team is currently conducting a field investigation in Wuhan, but due to insufficient deadlines, insufficient evidence, and uncooperative response to China, the investigation has not been conducted smoothly.
Of course, China denies all suspicions and is confident that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held normally. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Won-bin said, “The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be a very cool and outstanding event,” and “Attempts with political intention to disrupt the Winter Olympics are very irresponsible.”
In addition, the opinion that it is unlikely that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide to postpone even the Beijing Winter Olympics is dominant. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics have already been postponed once, and it is expected that it will be difficult to cancel even the Winter Olympics this year as it is uncertain.
The IOC has already suffered significant economic losses due to the delay of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and if the Tokyo Summer Olympics is canceled, it is in a situation that it will have to give up huge broadcast rights and sponsor revenue.
In fact, last month, President Xi Jinping and IOC Chairman Thomas Bach made a call to pledge the success of the Olympic Games.