Beijing chose a young athlete of Uighur descent to light the Olympic flame while an estimated 1 million Uighurs are being held in 're-education centers' in the Xinjiang province, subject to torture and rape
China responded head-on to criticism of its human rights abuses in Xinjiang province today by choosing a young athlete of Uighur descent to light the Olympic flame at the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Olympic torch was brought into the stadium by a series of Chinese winter sports stars born in successive decades from the 1950s onwards. The final two, both born in the 2000s, were Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen, 21, who will be China's first ever competitor in the Nordic combined event. The pair smiled broadly as they lifted the torch to light the centre of a snowflake-shaped cauldron.
That power was on display just hours before the ceremony as Xi received another president-for-life, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, for a stage-managed summit that ended with anot to interfere in Ukraine. A display of geopolitical clout, it was an undiplomatic way to kick off a global sporting event—or would have been if Western leaders had not already snubbed the Beijing Games.
This will also be the first Winter Olympics to rely entirely on artificial snow for events in the two out-of-town mountain clusters. Organizers have brought in an army of snowmaking machines, which will get through an estimated 200 million gallons of water to ensure the success of the various skiing and jumping events.
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