As the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games kicked off on Friday, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) got an assist from American media in propagating their talking points.
NBC's Savannah Guthrie of the "TODAY Show" stated Chinese leader Xi Jinping's decision to choose an Uyghur athlete to co-light the Olympic flame was "quite provocative," "a statement" and "an in-your-face response to those Western nations, including the U.S., who have called this Chinese treatment of that group genocide and diplomatically boycotted these games."
The remarks were highlighted by Mediaite's Jackson Richman.
Here's how I would've framed it, commenting on the moment: "Xi is trying to manipulate the world with this twisted move."
— Jackson Richman (@jacksonrichman) February 4, 2022
NBC also tweeted Guthrie's point via an article by Saphora Smith and Jennifer Jett that puts forth a disturbingly sanitized version of events that are going on in China at the hands of the CCP.
China chooses Uyghur athlete to deliver final Olympic flame at opening ceremony after nations condemn country’s record against Muslim minority. https://t.co/AQIGLQj2N0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 4, 2022
Some of the highlights include:
China kicked off the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday with a pared-back but visually stunning opening ceremony and a defiant message to the world leaders boycotting it.
...
Chinese officials chose two athletes, one of whom was Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur cross-country skiier from the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
The Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghurs has been described by the U.S. government and others as genocide, contributing to a diplomatic boycott of the Games by the U.S. and other countries.
Beijing has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of the largely Muslim minority and insists its actions in Xinjiang have been taken to combat terrorism.
The pair placed the flame inside a giant snowflake, a closely watched moment with symbolic weight in more ways than one.
“This was a riposte to President Joe Biden for skipping these Olympics and a message to the West: China won’t be lectured to on human rights, or on any other issue,” said Andy Browne, editorial director of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum and a China expert who appeared on NBC’s broadcast of the ceremony.
China is aiming to impress billions around the world with these Games, and perhaps momentarily transcend the fraught geopolitical atmosphere and strict Covid-19 restrictions that have characterized the runup to the competition.
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The games are also known to many as the Genocide Olympics, and it's not merely Western countries that are calling out the Chinese genocide of Uyghur Muslims. Last December, a London tribunal found that the forced sterilizations and forced abortions that Uyghurs were being subjected to amounts to genocide and was authorized from the top.
Guthrie added that "there will be much discussion," which indeed turned out to be the case. Many took to Twitter to call out her remarks, as our friends at Twitchy highlighted.
Another common theme that NBC and Guthrie didn't take notice of is that that athlete who was "chosen" likely did not have much of a choice at all.
When you are just an ordinary citizen in a totalitarian regime you don't ever ever want to be "chosen" by the dictator.
— Non Euclidian Dreams (@Ixila_wow) February 4, 2022
who wants to bet the athlete had a gun to their head when offered this https://t.co/rOXCTxez1y
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) February 4, 2022
Propaganda pushed by the CCP and furthered by American media wasn't the only disturbing bit of news concerning the Olympics on Friday morning.
A Dutch broadcaster was dragged away by Chinese officials during a live shot.
About 2 hours ago the China reporter @sjoerddendaas for the Dutch public broadcaster @NOS is pulled away while live on the Dutch national news close to the Beijing National Stadium! #Beijing2022WinterOlympics #Beijing2022 @DrewPavlou @BaldingsWorld @benedictrogers @joshrogin https://t.co/bQe3izoRJA pic.twitter.com/XoQTpZFUI2
— Sarah (@SarahMya2000) February 4, 2022
The outlet, NOS Journaal, later tweeted that the broadcaster, Sjoerd den Daas, "is fine and was able to finish his story a few minutes later." The tweet also noted though that "[u]nfortunately, this is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China."
It's not merely the media that is coming under fire for response to the CCP. As Katie and I covered, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gave athletes on Thursday ahead of the games specific instructions to not speak out. "You're there to compete. Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government because they are ruthless."
Pelosi also stuck by the idea of a diplomatic boycott, which amounts to a pretty much useless move.
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