According to section 50 of the Olympic Charter, no political, religious or racial demonstrations shall be permitted in the Olympic arenas. But during the Tokyo Olympics, the IOC eased the strict rules somewhat. Participants were not allowed to protest on the podium or during the competitions. However, it was allowed to as the Swedish football ladies kneel in support of the BLM movement before matches, but the pictures when they do were not allowed to be spread on social media.
In China, the space for that kind of manifestation seems gone. Admittedly, the IOC has said that participants have the right to think what they want about anything during press conferences and interviews.
But a statement from Yang Shu, deputy director of the Beijing Olympics International Relations Department, at a digital press conference hosted by the Chinese embassy in Washington, no doubt makes many people think before they say anything political. Yang Shu stated that all statements that are in line with the Olympic spirit are allowed. But if anyone behaves or speaks in a way that goes against the Olympic spirit, especially against Chinese laws and regulations, they will be punished, Yang Shu said.
The punishment according to Yang Shu can be that the Olympic accreditation is withdrawn or other “special punishments”.
Innan Yang Shus statement, athletes had already been warned to comment on sensitive political issues during the games “for their own safety”, during a seminar organized by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch and in which several athletes participated.
– There is not as much protection as we think for the athletes. And the IOC has not been out and actively signaling that they will protect and ensure that everyone is safe, said Rob Koehler, general manager of Global Athlete, an activist group for athletes.
Several countries and organizations are strongly critical of the 2022 Winter Olympics being awarded to Beijing. They point to China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, where up to one million Uighurs are believed to have been detained, to the disappearance of freedoms in Hong Kong and to the religious oppression in Tibet. The United States has has gone so far as to accuse China of genocide in Xinjiang. China denies the allegations.
In protest, the United States and several other countries have decided to boycott games diplomatically, that is, their top politicians stay at home. No ministers come from Sweden either, but the Swedish government cites the pandemic as the cause and does not call it a diplomatic boycott.
Read more:
The call for Olympic activists: Keep quiet
Nils van der Poel on the China issue: “It is not wise of me to criticize”
Big poll with the Olympic stars: “Naive to think that something will get better because we go there”
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