Xi Jinping launches the Beijing Olympics… Tokyo Olympics in Japan seems to be abandonment

Input 2021.01.22 16:38 | Revision 2021.01.22 16:47

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is scheduled to be held in February next year. The line came out under observation that Japan may not be able to hold the Tokyo Olympics in July due to the spread of coronavirus infection. It is interpreted that President Xi showed off China’s corona control performance and expressed confidence in hosting international sports events.

According to reports such as China’s state-run People’s Daily and Shinhwasa, President Xi inspected the preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing and Hebei provinces on the 18th and 20th. On the morning of the 18th, he visited the Capital Gymnasium in Haidian District, Beijing, and encouraged the players and coaches of the national team of figure skating and short track. In the afternoon of the same day, I visited the Yanqing Alpine Ski Center and Sliding Center. On the 19th, we toured the stadium and athlete’s village in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, the co-host. Xi arrived on a high-speed rail link between Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

The dark blue padding that President Xi wore during the on-site inspection became a hot topic. The clothes are made by Canadian brand Arc’teryx and cost about 1,000 dollars (about 1.1 million won). Arc’teryx is a brand known in Korea for the red padding worn by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in 2019. China Anta Group, the official sponsor of the Beijing Winter Olympics, has the Arc’teryx brand.

President Xi presided over a briefing session on the preparation of the Winter Olympics at the Beijing People’s Congress on the 20th, saying, “We are satisfied with the preparations”.

Beijing held the 2008 Summer Olympics, and in 2015, along with Zhangjiakou, was selected as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics. It is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

It is interpreted that President Xi’s public visit to the construction site of the Winter Olympics in about four years is an attempt to show China’s corona prevention results internally and externally. There are also observations that there is an intention to prepare the situation between Japan and China, where the rumors of the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics are abundant.

In Japan, controversy is growing over the enforcement of the Tokyo Olympics, re-acting or giving up. On the 7th of this month, the Japanese government declared an emergency again in Tokyo and the metropolitan area after nine months. However, the spread of the coronavirus has not stopped. For this reason, public opinion is rising from inside and outside Japan that the Tokyo Olympics must be abandoned or re-acted. The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to be held in 2020, but it was postponed for one year to July this year due to the corona crisis. Even after a year, it is still unclear whether the event will be held.

The Japanese government denied the rumors to cancel the Tokyo Olympics on the 22nd. The day before, IOC Chairman Thomas Bach also told Japan’s Kyodo News Agency that the Tokyo Olympics will be held in July as scheduled.