Geo-economics of Beijing Winter Olympics
AVALANCHE of global geopolitics has been trying to sabotage upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics (BWLs) through different means.
Constant “manoeuvring” of dirty power politics has tried to derail ice gaming through so-called human right violation’s tip of iceberg.
Thus Tokyo Olympic bubble has now landed in the city of Beijing where “hawks” of power politics are now flying high to prey peaceful “doves”.
But Chinese government has shown strong commitment to hold the BWLs as per schedule. The US, UK, Australia and even Canada have now announced their boycott of the BWLs and formed a “trans-continental” alliance against China and, of course, sports which has nothing to do with politics.
China has called the move a political posturing with the event set to get underway on February 4, 2022.
Moreover, Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly rejected so-called human right violation allegations of the West and “lambasted” their fake propaganda against the BWLs.
The Chinese spokesperson urged the US, UK, Australia and Canada to do some “soul searching” and redress their wrongdoings on human right issues, instead of pointing fingers at others.
Contrary to Western propaganda, senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, Dick Pound, said there was nothing wrong with China from a sporting perspective after a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Games by leading Western countries.
He clarified that politics does not come into any decision concerning the award of Olympics events to a country and there is absolutely nothing wrong with China because game theory has nothing to do with gaming spirits.
Furthermore, Mr Pound upheld that the awarding of the BWLs games was done on the basis of the importance of the country as a sporting nation and its ability to organize games at the level that the world now expects.
The West has again played its “notorious” card of democracy and human rights to prove their so-called just stance but miserably failed to produce any dint in the Chinese “resolve”.
However, having secrete holy alliance with the West, human rights groups have called for a full-blown boycott of the BLWs events as a protest against China’s alleged mistreatment of ethnic Uyghurs, Tibetans and other minority groups, its national security crackdown on Hong Kong and other issues.
In this regard, House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called for a diplomatic boycott not sending an official delegation. The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has said he’s unlikely to attend but did not support withdrawing athletes.
It seems that the Western geopolitics “addiction” has turned “impractical” as in a hearing in July, members of a U.S. Congressional panel urged corporations including Coca-Cola Co and Visa Inc to pull their sponsorship unless the event is moved out of China.
Under the US undue pressure, Company representatives said they were still assessing how to approach the games, and noted that their advertising would focus on the athletes, not the location.
Moreover, the U.S. lawmakers have proposed a bill that would ban companies that sponsor or do business with the Beijing Olympics from selling products or services to the US government or in federal buildings or installations, including military bases. Most recently, the Biden Administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the BWLs over human rights concerns.
The boycott comes as the US attempts to thread the needle between stabilising difficult relations with Beijing and maintaining a tough stance on trade and political conflicts.
Beijing has warned the US that this action will undermine the dialogue and cooperation between the two states in a series of important areas and international issues.
Unfortunately, the US and the West has now polluted the true spirit of sports and fund another front to show their supremacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will attend the opening of the BWLs. Thus stood with China and mitigated the ongoing propaganda “Mexican waves” against China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the games to be “simple, safe and splendid in which politics does not have any role to play.
The BWLs games will live from Feb. 4-20, with the opening ceremony scheduled Feb. 4 at Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. Beijing, the first city to host both a summer and winter games, will reuse some of the 2008 venues for ice events.
The suburb of Yanqing, home to part of the Great Wall, and the city of Zhangjiakou in neighbouring Hebei province, will host events such as alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross country and ski jumping. In addition to this, a new high-speed rail line cuts travel time between the ski areas and Beijing to about 45 minutes.
The Winter Paralympics will be held on March 4-13. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that participants who are not fully vaccinated will have to serve 21-day quarantine. Olympic and Paralympic games participants will stay completely inside a “closed-loop management system” and be subject to daily testing.
The upcoming BWLs has also orientation of geo-economics too. In this context, two Chinese cities namely Beijing and Zhangjiakou experienced a surge of activity in winter sports investment after China was named the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Since 2015, when it was announced that Beijing and its surrounding cities would play host in 2022, the Chinese government has been pushing for the development of winter sports. Some incentives include dishing out tax exemptions and increasing access to resources, as it hopes to attract 300 million people by 2022.
According to Chinese data (2021), by the end of last year, the area developed for ski resorts in Zhangjiakou had 169 routes stretching over 162 kilometers and more than 10,000 pieces of equipment available for rental. According to municipal government reports (2021), the seven ski resorts in the same city can now host more than 50,000 people in a day.
China playing host to the 2022 Winter Olympics has given winter sports a boost in the world’s second largest economy. The number of visitors to China’s ski resorts has tripled from 5.5 million in 2009 to 15.1 million in 2016.
Beijing has introduced various measures to incentivize winter sports businesses to invest in the region.
In November, the Chinese State Taxation Administration (CSTA) announced that income related to the BWLs obtained by International Olympic Committee (IOC) companies and broadcasters, as well as international sponsors, marketing and service providers will be exempt from tax. China has allocated budget of $3.9 billion for the upcoming BWLs that could potentially allocate to snow cannons to create a wintry landscape.
Let us hope that Chinese “sporting” spirits will dominate and ill-spirit of the West will be on the melt because dry ice of propaganda achieves nothing but self-defeat. To conclude, it is hoped that “Bird’s Nest” will be full of doves whereas hawks will be self-preyed of their own arrogance, prejudice and blind submission of schemes against China.
—The writer is Director, Geopolitics/Economics, Regional geopolitical expert of China, CPEC & BRI.
