Sports and politics collided in an incendiary display today during a routine press conference at the Olympic Games in #Beijing, despite assurances, the Games are supposed to remain apolitical. npr.org/2022/02/17/108…
A journalist asked during a routine press conference Thursday about whether Taiwan's Olympic team would appear at the closing ceremony.
"What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an indivisible part of China," said Yan Jiarong, a spokesperson with Beijing's organizing committee for the Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is painstakingly clear that the Games should stay politically neutral. Its rules forbid anyone, including athletes and government officials, from making political actions on Olympic premises.
During Thursday's press conference, another journalist queried the IOC about its uniforms sponsor, China's Anta, which sources some products from #Xinjiang. Could the IOC prove its uniforms hadn't been made with forced labor?
"I think these questions are very based on lies. Some authorities have already disputed such false information with a lot of solid evidence," said Yan, the Beijing Olympic official.
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