[앵커]
There is controversy as the Chinese government effectively refuses entry to athletes from India’s border dispute areas who were trying to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
India canceled its sports minister’s attendance at the Asian Games, protesting that it violated the spirit of sports.
Reporter Ki Jeong-hoon reports.
[기자]
The athletes questioned by China are three female wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India.
It is a place that China calls Southern Tibet and claims as Chinese territory.
Rather than issuing official visas to the passports of these players who were planning to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games, they were given visas that were stapled to their passports.
The so-called ‘stapled visa’ is being used by China as a way to question India’s sovereignty over the region.
Since they cannot leave India without an official visa, China has effectively refused entry to the players.
India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement criticizing China for discriminating against athletes in a targeted and pre-planned manner, violating both the spirit of the Asian Games and the prohibition on discrimination against athletes from competing countries.
As a protest, the Sports Minister’s visit to the Asian Games was also canceled.
China discriminated against these three players in the same way at the World University Games held in Chengdu last July, and India canceled the entire team’s participation.
[키렌 리지주 / 전 인도 체육부 장관 : 중국의 조치는 불법적이고 비윤리적입니다. 올림픽 헌장은 어떤 선수도 정치적 이유로 차별하거나 참가를 막아선 안 된다고 규정하고 있습니다.]
However, China postponed responsibility, saying there was no problem.
[웨이 지종 / 아시아올림픽평의회 윤리위원장(중국) : (중국 정부는) 그 선수들에게 비자를 줬습니다. 중국에 들어올 수 있습니다. 그런데 불행히도 선수들이 그 비자를 수용하지 않은 겁니다.]
China and India, whose border is approximately 3,500 km long, were at war until 1962.
As they are fighting over the Line of Actual Control, dozens of people were killed in a military conflict in northern India three years ago.
The Asian Games were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus, but it appears that the political conflict has not been put aside.
This is YTN Ki Jeong-hoon.
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2023-09-22 21:48:00
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