Politics entered the Olympics on Thursday when an official at the Beijing Winter Games spoke of Taiwan and Xinjiang, saying there was only “one China,” the first such comments from the host nation since the competition began.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams was asked at the daily press conference about Taiwan’s attendance at the closing ceremony on Sunday. After his remarks, Beijing Games spokesman Yan Jiarong said: “There is only one China.”
His statement reiterates China’s position on democratically governed Taiwan, which it claims is its “holy” land.
Later, Yan again insisted on making a statement about Xinjiang when a reporter asked the IOC about materials from China’s Xinjiang region used for clothing.
“The so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is a lie invented by certain groups,” Yan said.
Human rights groups accuse some textile companies that use materials from Xinjiang of ignoring the abuses faced by the region’s Uighur population. China denies all allegations of abuse and has repeatedly rejected allegations that it operates a network of forced labor camps in Xinjiang.
Amid a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics by the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries over China’s human rights record, the International Olympic Committee has sought to keep politics out of the Beijing Games.
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