China used TV, TikTok stars in discreet Olympics campaign
A โReal Housewives of Beverly Hillsโ TV star, a Paralympic swimmer and a self-described โbrand kingโ were among the Instagram and TikTok influencers who were paid by Chinese officials for a discreet campaign that promoted the Beijing Winter Olympics, new Justice Department documents reveal.
Celebrations for Year of the Tiger are muted, but bring hope
People across Asia prepared Monday for muted Lunar New Year celebrations amid concerns over the coronavirus and virulent omicron variant, but were looking ahead with hope that the region's high vaccination rates might bring life closer to normal in the coming year.
Why is Beijing hosting the Olympics for the second time in just 14 years?
Just 14 years after hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing is set to make history by becoming the first city to play host to both a Summer and Winter Olympics when it welcomes the world for the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Airbnb asked to drop Olympic ties over China rights issues
Airbnb Inc. is being asked to drop its sponsorship connections to 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics by a coalition of 150 human-rights campaigners. The coalition is headed by groups that oppose rights violations in China including widely reported genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. The coalition is headed by groups that oppose rights violations in China including the detention of Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. AdโAirbnb is also glossing over Chinaโs horrifying human rights record and normalizing to the public what is recognized under international law as a deeply restrictive environment," the letter said. AdโChina firmly rejects the politicization of sports and opposes using human rights issues to interfere in other countriesโ internal affairs,โ foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said earlier this month.
Human rights, COVID at issue 1 year before Beijing Olympics
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will open a year from now. Beijing held the 2008 Summer Olympics. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)Building elaborate venues for Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics is the easy part for China, just as it was for the city's Summer Olympics in 2008. Hanging over all of this is the COVID-19 pandemic that has already delays and still threatens the Tokyo Summer Olympics in six months. โWe are full of confidence to hold an excellent and outstanding Winter Olympics,โ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said this week.
Rights groups call for boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Games
FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2020, file photo, visitors to Chongli, one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, pass by the Olympics logo in Chongli in northern China's Hebei Province. A coalition of 180 rights group on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2020 called for a boycott of next years Beijing Winter Olympics tied to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)TOKYO โ A coalition of 180 rights groups on Wednesday called for a boycott of next yearโs Beijing Winter Olympics tied to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China. Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics, which it promised would improve human rights in the country. โAs human rights experts predicted, this decision proved to be hugely misplaced; not only did Chinaโs human rights record not improve but violations increased substantially without rebuke.