Beijing Winter Olympics: A sigh of relief for the world

The opening of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 4, 2022 is a historic and memorable event for a number of reasons.

Firstly, one needs to recall that in 2015, when China won the bid to hold the ongoing Games, no one had thought of the unprecedented challenges lying ahead. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only disrupted the preparatory meetings of the Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but also led to postponement or cancellation of some test events. Indeed, the fears were high that the Games would be postponed, as was the case of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, the fears finally vanished and the Games are now in place. This is a victorious situation which needs to be saluted by supporters of globalization and multilateralism.

Secondly, the effective management of the pandemic by the Chinese leadership and its people, which resulted in very low infection and mortality rates was a confidence-booster for the world on the safety of holding the Games in China. Moreover, China has extended assistance to over 150 countries by providing anti-pandemic materials, equipment and vaccines The presence of nearly 3,000 athletes from 91 countries and regions in Beijing Winter Olympics is both a congratulatory message and a thanksgiving gesture of solidarity to China and the Chinese people.

Five African countries, namely Eritrea, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco and Nigeria, participated in the Games. This relatively low number is not by accident. The continent’s geographic location, with an average annual temperature of 25.7 degrees Celsius, lacks the climate for all winter sports contested outside. On the contrary, African countries have done relatively well in Summer Olympics, particularly in the middle- and long-distance running. In such events, they won over 400 medals but none at the Winter Olympics so far. This notwithstanding, it needs to be acknowledged that China has been at the forefront in facilitating sports development in Africa by provision of requisite infrastructure, such as the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania. Such provisions have heightened the sports and games spirit in Africa, and enabled its active and successful participation in regional and global events.

Thirdly, the Games, especially the opening ceremony, have showcased China’s innovative and technological capacity and advancement. This was clearly demonstrated by having the world’s largest ground LED Screen, which not only withstands freezing temperatures, but also is weather proof in terms of snow and rain. Another dimension of technological leadership is that, instead of a blazing fire burning in the cauldron, this time the Olympic flare was dancing lightly in the air at the heart of the cauldron. It is important to note that all these technological innovations are eco-friendly and low-carbon, in unison with the current calls for protection of the environment for future generations.

Fourthly, since the outbreak of the pandemic in the late 2019, the world has been dormant and chilled in terms of cross-border mobility and engulfed in fear. This phenomena discouraged and reduced the scale of activities in a variety of sectors, and had a number of negatives impacts, such as lower economic growth rates, higher unemployment rates and increased poverty. Indeed, the holding of the Games is a clear sign that the pandemic is slowly but surely being conquered. This state of recovery and the world coming back to life again is a sigh of great relief and rejuvenation to the mankind.

These four milestones cum achievements, under normal circumstances, must be appreciated by any objective and sound thinking person. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. We have heard voices, especially from the West, calling for the boycott of the Games because of the so-called human right violations in the host country. We have always urged, and firmly believe that, human or democratic rights are not context free. They cannot be considered as a standardized commodity like Coca Cola because they do not operate in a vacuum. To the contrary, they are informed by specific characteristics prevalent in a particular country during a specific period of time. And the best judges of a country’s human right situation are the people who live in that country, not the outsiders.

Studies in the recent past have clearly indicated that those countries which are at the forefront of advocating human rights are violating human rights at home! We have heard and witnessed the Africans or Asians being discriminated in the Western world. We have seen cases where provision of basic human needs are denied to certain communities. And in the distant and recent past, those countries were the colonizers and neo-colonizers of many regions in the world. How are these actions aligned with the promotion of human rights?

The key message from these pieces of evidence is that any effort to use the Olympic Games as a platform for political posturing or manipulation is doomed to failure for lack of audience. Once again, the holding of the Games has proved just that.