What can be done about the Beijing Winter Olympics?
The Covid-19 pandemic forced a one-year postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, putting the aspirations of thousands of athletes and their countries on hold until this summer. Another consequence of this move has been that the start of these games on July 23rd, sits just under 200 days away from the commencement of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Despite such a quick inter-Olympic turnaround, the 2022 games carry a mountain-load of controversy. Controversy has plagued them since the very beginning when Beijing earned the 2022 winter bid in 2015 over its lone remaining contender Almaty, Kazakhstan. How could a city like Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and receives next to no snowfall, host a Winter Olympics? The Olympic bid selection process, which critics have criticized for its corruption, that year came down to two authoritarian finalists after other countries dropped their bids after Sochi’s 2014 games cost Russia a sum worth $51 Billion.
Despite the astounding price tag to host the games, China and Kazakhstan went down to the wire for the games because of the massive platforms and economic opportunities host nations are privy to. The host nation typically benefits economically from increased tourism, ticket sales, licensing agreements, and much more. In addition, the Olympics often serve as a showcase of a country’s development to the rest of the world. A visually impressive and smoothly run Olympics, viewed by millions around the world can uplift a country’s image along with more tangible benefits such as improved trade and investment opportunities.
However, more importantly than its lack of natural snow, the most pressing issue with China’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Games is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s rampant and well-documented human rights abuses in Xinjiang. American politicians across the political spectrum, including both the Biden and Trump administrations have labeled China’s persecution of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang as a genocide. Many activist groups argue that such human rights violations violate the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) stated and implied values and its commitment to building a better world through sport. Given these moral concerns, should China be allowed to host the 2022 games and benefit in those aforementioned ways? What are feasible actions that the US can take to use the Olympics’ platform for good and to effect positive change?
Some of the most ambitious tactics for using the Olympics to protest China’s actions against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been to lobby to move the 2022 games from Beijing or for the US government to enact a total boycott of the games by not sending any American athletes. The first is unrealistic given the short gap between the Tokyo and Beijing games and that such a move has never come close to happening before. However, the second carries some historical precedent, so how effective would that route be?
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter coordinated a total boycott of Moscow’s 1980 Summer Olympics, during which the US and its allies did not send any athletes to compete in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. While this move was certainly symbolic and the Soviets reacted in-kind to the protest (by then in turn boycotting Los Angeles’s 1984 Summer Olympics), boycotting the games had little tangible impact on the situation. In addition, the move denied thousands of American athletes the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and compete on the world’s stage. Making such a sacrifice in cutting short the ambitions of America’s elite athletes once again would be unfair to them, and it would likely accomplish very little in terms of policy changes. In addition, it’s possible that such a move could backfire and potentially enhance the global clout that China seeks to earn at the games, as no American athletes in competition would create a void on many Olympic podiums, leaving China the opportunity to earn more medals and the accompanying prestige they bring. Furthermore, such a move could exacerbate political tensions within the US, as many would-be Uyghur allies may potentially resent the cause if the US government were to hurt its own athletes by boycotting the games.
While the 1980 games serve as a cautionary historical example for what could happen if the US government were to attempt a complete boycott again, a more fitting historical comparison to the 2022 Beijing Olympics is Berlin’s 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1936, much of the world, including the US, grappled with whether or not Germany and its ruling Nazi party should be allowed to host the games and what action would be required, as Germany’s clear discrimination along lines of race and religion clearly compromised core Olympic values. One viewpoint was that competing in the games would in a way condone and thus endorse Adolf Hitler’s regime. On the other hand, others argued that the best way of standing up to Germany would be to compete at the games and simply beat the Germans at every event possible, thus stealing the athletic glory and denying the Nazis any pseudo-evidence of Aryan racial superiority. In the end, despite interest from the US and its allies, the US did not coordinate a boycott of the games. While other countries mulled the idea of boycotting, with some even attempting to hold their own set of athletic competitions to rival Germany’s games, such efforts did not amount to anything significant.
The 1936 games commenced as planned, with the Nazis relaxing and shielding much of their regime’s anti-semitism from the world’s view for the duration of the games. In hindsight, American athletes like Jesse Owens took advantage of being able to compete by putting forth iconic performances. Nevertheless, claiming medals away from Germany did not stem the trend towards discrimination and religious persecution in Nazi Germany that would eventually culminate in the Holocaust and the death of over 6 million Jewish people. While it would be unrealistic to conclude that boycotting the games could have stopped the atrocities to come, it is important to acknowledge that the US government and its allies whiffed on a major opportunity to confront Germany in the name of morality. In fact, competing at the games proved to be actively harmful as the Olympics were the medium through which Germany boosted its legitimacy by presenting competing countries with a misleading picture of the Nazi regime’s tolerance.
Given the history surrounding American boycotts of the Olympics over questions of policy and morality, it is evident that the US should avoid approaching the 2022 Olympics in either extreme of action (by not bringing American athletes to the games) and inaction (simply competing normally as is). Thus, what can be done to challenge a morally bankrupt host nation and use the Olympics’ platform for some good? The answer lies in acknowledging that sending athletes to the games is not mutually exclusive with other forms of protest
One realistic and likely effective avenue lies in a coordinated economic and diplomatic boycott of the Beijing games by the United States and its allies. Economically, American spectators and companies can take initiative by staying home and withdrawing from Olympic-related business deals, thus denying the CCP hefty revenues from travel, tickets, and sponsorship agreements. While the US government could potentially incentivize such behavior, the onus would be on the individuals and corporations to do their part in such a coordinated effort. Unfortunately, American companies will hesitate to take these steps because of the consequences of lost revenue and potentially a damaged relationship with the Chinese consumer base. American corporations will only act if public backlash in the United States in response to their inaction outweighs any potential monetary repercussions. In an Op-Ed for the New York Times advocating for such action, Utah Senator Mitt Romney suggested that the US not send the traditional diplomats and officials to the Olympics, as he argued that it would be fitting to send “Chinese dissidents, religious leaders and ethnic minorities to represent us”. Such a move would be largely symbolic, but if enough other like-minded countries participate as well, the effect would be amplified in front of a global audience. Another concrete action Romney analyzed would be to work with NBC, which holds broadcasting rights for the games. NBC would avoid letting China use the platform of the opening and closing ceremonies as propaganda devices, countering overly nationalistic segments with “documented reports of China’s abuses”. Such an approach would bring greater light to the issues the Uyghurs face rather than letting the games serve as a medium for the indoctrination of the millions of viewers around the globe.
“Don't let Beijing 2022 become Berlin 1936.”
Romney’s recommendations are so pertinent because they highlight how the average American consumer can play a role in challenging China’s “Genocide Olympics”. While each person should aim to exercise their individual economic leverage by staying away from the games and from merchandise whose sales benefit China, the most important step one can take is to educate oneself and one’s surrounding communities. That involves remaining skeptical of Chinese state propaganda and doing research after seeing any overly grandiose and nationalistic portrayals of the games. Millions of Americans have the potential to make a contribution in the fight to end the Uyghur genocide by using their personal platforms to share reports of CCP human rights violations and to amplify Uyghur voices. As the games creep closer and more people take responsibility by reading and learning, enough Americans will come to understand this issue to the point where we cannot mention the 2022 Winter Olympics without immediately associating it with China’s genocide in Xinjiang.
With that being said, it is imperative that those in positions of power target feasible political actions that can spur tangible change rather than solely relying on symbolic gestures and individual actions. It would be overly ambitious to characterize the 2022 Winter Olympics as the key towards righting the many wrongs in Xinjiang, but if protests and the world’s response to the Olympics are executed well at various levels, ranging from government to private companies down to the individual consumer, then the games could serve as a valuable stepping stone and catalyst for future change in China. We must use the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to bring the world’s attention and scrutiny to the Chinese Community Party’s Uyghur genocide.
