Two cyclists from #China who wore Mao Zedong pins after winning gold in the women’s sprint final on Monday have escaped serious censure for violating Olympic rules banning political propaganda. theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug…
While they appeared to violate Rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which bans “political, religious or racial propaganda” at Games venues, the @iocmedia announced on Saturday that the cyclists would receive only a warning.
“We have received a clarification and the athletes have been warned,” said Christian Klaue. “We have received assurances from the Chinese Olympic Committee that it will not happen again and the IOC considers this case closed.”
The small red and gold pins worn by Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi were commonplace during the Cultural Revolution, a decade of social and political chaos in China where hundreds of thousands died or were sent to re-education to the countryside.
Meanwhile, @hrw warned that the Beijing Winter Olympics next February is set to become a “triumphal Chinese communist spectacle in the snow” as it urged the IOC to adopt policies that could help stop serious human rights abuses.
@MinkysHighjinks the director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said the situation had “downgraded markedly” since China hosted the summer Games in 2008.
“China is in the midst of its worst human rights crackdown since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989,” said Worden. “The Olympics are shaping up to be a triumphal Chinese communist spectacle in the snow."
"Some of you have seen senior IOC leaders say that the Olympics are not political. We wish someone would tell that to the Chinese government."
“For an autocracy like China the Olympics are not just about sport, they are a geopolitical event that can elevate the status of the government and the ruling Chinese Communist party at home and abroad.”
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Hong Kong's CE Carrie Lam has revealed that @rthk_enews will seek to build a long-term partnership with state-owned #China Media Group and screen more TV programmes produced across the border to boost patriotism in the city. scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
Lam said on Monday that RTHK would “coordinate with the group’s work on Hong Kong”, and that the local broadcaster’s Chinese-language, free-to-air channel – TV31 – would be running more dramas and documentaries produced by China Central Television, or CCTV.
The programmes, she said, “offer a crucial opportunity to let Hong Kong people have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the struggle and development of the Communist Party of China and nurture a stronger sense of patriotism”.
The new AIT director Sandra Oudkirk met up with #Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu today, and they discussed a wide range of issues, including the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, trade and economic issues, the COVID-19 pandemic, ...
... and cooperation aimed at expanding Taiwan’s international space. “I am glad to be back in Taiwan. It is an exciting time to be the Director of AIT with the U.S.-Taiwan relationship at an all-time high," she said.
Oudkirk also highlighted U.S.-Taiwan cooperation on COVID-19, including Taiwan’s donation of personal protective equipment to the United States and American donations of vaccines to Taiwan, as well as recent announcements of vaccine donations for Taiwan from European partners.
#Beijing’s regulatory assault on #China’s technology industry has lopped $87bn off the net worth of the sector’s wealthiest tycoons since the start of July, hitting the fortunes of magnates such as Tencent’s Pony Ma and Pinduoduo’s Colin Huang. ft.com/content/7e6f9a…
The combined net worth of the two dozen Chinese billionaires in tech and biotechnology whose holdings are tracked by Bloomberg has dropped by 16 percent since ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing went public in the US at the end of June, according to Financial Times calculations.
Huang, founder of ecommerce site Pinduoduo, has been the worst affected with paper losses of $15.6bn, or a third of his wealth. Pony Ma, founder of internet group Tencent, has lost more than $12bn or 22 percent of his wealth.
According to the @thetimes, Chinese spies are posing as refugees in an attempt to enter Britain through a resettlement scheme designed for Hongkongers. thetimes.co.uk/article/e7a1b3…
Government sources have said they are aware of sleeper agents applying for British National (Overseas) visas under the pretence of seeking refuge from the totalitarian state.
“There are stringent background checks in place for the visa applications — and they’re in place for a reason,” government sources said. “The vetting process for the BNO visa scheme is much more thorough than any other.”
Chinese tech giant Alibaba said on Sunday that it was cooperating with a police investigation into sexual assault allegations aired by a company employee. france24.com/en/live-news/2…
A statement by Alibaba said the company also had suspended "relevant parties suspected of violating our policies and values," asserting that it had a "zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct."
An unidentified female employee made the allegations in a lengthy internal posting quoted by Chinese media, which AFP is unable to verify.
Latest for @dw_chinese (Eng version): Chinese citizen journalist #ZhangZhan continues to stage hunger strike in prison after she was sentenced to four years last year. She is reportedly suffering from malnutrition and her weight has dropped to below 40KG. williamyang-35700.medium.com/chinese-citize…
She was hospitalized on July 31. In a screenshot of the text that Zhang’s mother sent to activists inside and outside of China, she said she was finally able to talk to Zhang through the phone earlier this month.
The doctor said apart from suffering from malnutrition, Zhang’s feet and legs are also both suffering from edema.