China Is Preparing for Another Olympics in Beijing, Like It or Not

“The Chinese government is more and more powerful and influential now,” said Teng Biao, a lawyer who was detained in Beijing in 2008 for criticizing the country’s preparations for those Games. “They have the leverage to sanction those who are critical of the regime.”

The International Olympic Committee, like the sponsors and broadcasters, has a lot to lose if the Games are sparsely attended.

“It is also clear that we want with this Olympic Games to experience the passion and excellence of sport and the excellence of the Chinese organization,” the committee’s president, Thomas Bach, was quoted as telling the state news agency, Xinhua, after a telephone call with Mr. Xi in January to discuss Beijing’s latest preparations.

Beijing was awarded the 2022 Games after several European cities dropped out in 2015, citing the onerous costs. China defeated the only other bidder left standing, Almaty, the principal city of Kazakhstan, another authoritarian country. The vote was 44 to 40.

Beijing, which will be the first city to play host to both the Summer and Winter Games, is not exactly known for winter sports. China only won its first Winter Olympics gold medal, in speedskating, in 2002. Mr. Xi, however, decreed that the country would produce 300 million snow and ice enthusiasts — a goal the Olympic chief, Mr. Bach, noted glowingly last month.

“Chinese ice and snow!” Mr. Xi cheered during an inspection of future Olympic sites, which was broadcast in a video on Feb. 4 marking the start of the country’s yearlong countdown to the Games.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/world/asia/china-olympics-boycott.html