2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
China was awarded the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 after promising in the bidding stage to improve human rights conditions. In 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to award Beijing the 2022 Winter Games — the first city to host both the summer and winter events.
As part of the IOC’s charter, it seeks to “create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example, social responsibility and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles”. Despite this, in response to growing calls criticising the decision for the Games to go ahead despite China’s ongoing campaign against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, IOC President Thomas Bach penned an op-ed stating the IOC is “strictly politically neutral at all times,” suggesting that the Olympics “cannot prevent wars and conflicts.” His predecessor, Jacques Rogge, made similar remarks responding to criticism ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games, stating that “we are a sports organisation — there are limits to what we can do.”
In October 2021, IOC Vice President John Coates told reporters that “the IOC does place a very high emphasis on human rights,” and that “we have no ability to go into a country and tell them what to do. All we can do is to award the Olympics to a country, under conditions set out in a host contract … and then ensure they are followed.”
However, as World Uyghur Congress Program Manager Zumretay Arkin puts it:
Rather than being apolitical, history has shown us that time and time again, the Olympic Games have been used as propaganda platforms to prop up dangerous political systems. In 1936 Adolf Hitler used the Berlin Games as a propaganda coup to portray the Nazis as tolerant, and in 2008 China used the Beijing Summer Games as a pretext to intensify its brutal practices and policies, which have led to increased and widespread violation of human rights.
The reality is that the relationship between the Olympic Games and politics is now, and has always been, acutely visible and this has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese Communist Party. While the IOC remains in denial, China is once again preparing to use the 2022 platform as part of its “soft power” arsenal to help roll out a sophisticated strategy aimed at reshaping and influencing public opinion in an attempt to hide the gross and increasing assault on those living under its rule.
But at the same time, there is a growing movement amongst governments and elected officials who are facing up to the reality and are expressing support for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Games in the knowledge that they cannot once again help bolster China’s authoritarian regime as happened in 2008.
In 2020 the IOC issued guidelines banning all forms of protest on the field of play or at the podium, also stipulating that athletes must abide by “local laws,” which in authoritarian China leaves plenty open to interpretation and should be cause for concern for teams. While additional guidelines were issued in 2021 that increased the scope for athletes to protest “prior to the start of the competition”, athletes could still face disciplinary action if their gesture was “targeted, directly or indirectly, against people, countries, organizations,” or was disruptive. These guidelines were also only applicable to the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics which took place in July 2021.
Prior to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics, a Beijing official warned any athlete behaviour that is against the Olympic spirit or Chinese rules or laws would be subject to “certain punishment”. When asked at a press conference following the Olympics closing ceremony about human rights issues, committee spokesperson Yan Jiarong dismissed human rights violations among the Uyghur Muslim population as “lies” and insisted Taiwan was part of China.
Corporate sponsors of the Games also play a key role in the IOC’s funding. The top 15 sponsors paid the IOC about $1 billion in cash or services in the last complete, four-year Olympic cycle, to be associated with the games. The 2022 Beijing Winter Games are currently partnered with the below worldwide sponsors:
Airbnb
Alibaba Group (e-commerce company, often called “the Amazon of China”)
Allianz ( financial services company mainly focusing on insurance and asset management)
Atos ( IT software and services company)
Bridgestone (auto and truck part manufacturer)
The Coca-Cola Company (owns brands that include Appletiser, Costa Coffee, Dasani, Fanta, Honest Tea, Innocent Smoothies, Minute Maid, Powerade, Schweppes, Smartwater, Sprite, and Vitaminwater)
Dow Chemical Company (manufacturer of plastics, chemicals and agricultural products)
General Electric (has segments in power, renewable energy, aviation, healthcare and financial services)
Intel (supplies computing components for manufacturers such as Lenovo, HP and Dell)
Omega SA (luxury watch brand)
Panasonic (electronics and appliances manufacturer)
Procter & Gamble (owns brands that include Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Aussie Hair Care, Olay, Pantene, Pampers, Always, Tampax, Ariel, Daz, Bold 2 in 1, Fairy, Lenor, Febreze, Clearblue, Old Spice, Oral-B, Vicks, Braun, Gilette, and Venus)
Samsung Electronics (electronics and appliances manufacturer)
Toyota (car manufacturer)
Visa Inc (payment processing)
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (provides audit, financial advisory and tax services)
For a list of other brands linked to Xinjiang and Uyghur forced labour, view the Brands Linked to Xinjiang section.