In February, China will host the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the surrounding province. That is proving to be problematic for many countries’ governments as growing global attention is focused on the country’s ongoing genocide, as pointed out by Mike Pompeo, against the Uyghur people. Senate Republicans have already drafted a measure to move the games to another, less repressive country. Several European countries have similarly condemned China’s actions.
But how did our neighbors to the north react? Canada is preparing to send its athletes to Beijing to compete, but their Olympic Committee warns them in advance not to say anything “controversial” that might upset the Chinese Communist Party. (Free beacon)
Canadian Olympic Committee said its athletes should avoid publicly criticizing China ahead of the 2022 winter games in Beijing over concerns that critics could be prosecuted under the Communist Party’s national security laws, the Globe and Mail reported. Thursday.
David Shoemaker, chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the committee plans to spend “a significant amount of time” instructing its competitors on what “they may consider not commenting, perhaps after the Games have taken place. “
“There are dissidents in Hong Kong who have been deported and accused of saying things that contradicted the Communist Party policies of the Chinese government,” Shoemaker told the newspaper. “So we’ll talk to our athletes about the implications of what they say and the topics they decide to talk about.”
This may not be the case very as bad as it might seem at first glance, although still not a good message to send. First of all, the policy does not come from the current Canadian government, but from their Olympic Committee. And it doesn’t sound like they are trying to provide the Chinese government with some sort of cover for their repressive actions. They are more concerned that their athletes will be arrested or detained when they arrive for the games if they are openly critical of the genocide.
Would the Chinese arrest and imprison athletes from another nation at the games? Given their recent track record, I don’t think we can really ignore it, but it would be unusual to say the least. They generally feel free to abuse their own people as much as they want, but it would be a major escalation to take a Canadian, American or European citizen and throw them in a cell.
Of course, we should probably be careful how hard we stand against Canada when you consider that the Biden administration is not exactly setting a good example in this area. On Wednesday, Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden currently has no plans to boycott the games or stop American athletes from competing. When asked if Biden supported the Senate’s initiative to move the games, Psaki referred reporters to the US Olympic Committee.
“We are of course in close consultation with allies and partners at all levels to identify our common concerns and establish a shared approach, but there is currently no discussion of any change to our plans from within the United States,” she says said.
The White House and the State Department, who have repeatedly asked in recent days whether the Biden administration supported moving the Games, referred reporters to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) for further comment.
At this point, we don’t even know if the Biden government is sticking to the designation genocide. Biden’s choice to be our UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during Senate interrogations that the State Department is “reviewing” the designation. She made it sound like more of a technical or procedural problem, but the White House clearly leaves the door open to the possibility that Pompeo’s decision might be reversed.
If so, we will have little regard for criticizing Canada for their rather lukewarm approach.