UM students react to controversy surrounding 2022 Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics are officially underway in Beijing despite the increase of uneasiness from surrounding nations.

So, why is this year’s Olympic Games controversial? 

It is due to the accusations towards China’s authoritarian government regarding human rights and genocide. Authorities in China have reportedly detained over a million Muslims in the country’s westernmost province, Xinjiang. 

According to a report published by the Human Rights Watch last year, the Chinese government committed crimes against humanity that included torture, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and separation of families against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims.

Some of the Ole Miss community offered to share their thoughts regarding if they would still watch the Olympics with all of the controversy going around. Here’s what they had to say:

“I would still watch it because the athletes deserve to be seen,” sophomore exercise science major Mina Tran said. “They didn’t do anything related to China. They’re just there to compete.”

Viewership in the US alone is down 48% since the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. However, students in Oxford are still tuning in. 

“I would still watch because I love watching the U.S. in the Olympics, but I think the athletes should use their platform in the Olympics to say something about the controversy,” freshman general business major Eliza Chatfield said. 

Muslim activists are calling this year’s Olympics “The Genocide Games.” Activists believe that the Chinese government will use the Olympics to legitimize itself and create a distraction from the abuses.

Back in December, the United States, along with other nations such as Canada, Denmark and the United Kingdom, announced a diplomatic boycott — meaning government officials will not be attending the Olympic Games — to protest the abuses created by the Chinese government regarding human rights.

While there is a diplomatic boycott, there are no athletes who have skipped the games in acts of protest. 

“The Olympics are a way for countries to celebrate their culture and accomplishments,” junior journalism major Gia Witt said. “If anything, it’s a good thing that these games have brought these controversies to light because otherwise, they might not have gotten enough coverage.”

Another issue at hand for China is on how they can prevent COVID-19 from affecting the Olympics. 

Chinese authorities have created an extensive branch of bubbles, officially known as the “closed loop,” which separates the Olympic Games from the city. Athletes will be tested daily and are forced to travel in dedicated vehicles, even if a place is nearby.

A bubble is a term that sports fans should be all too familiar with. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the NBA created a bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. 

The bubble proved to be effective because there were zero reported COVID-19 cases. This is mainly due to the fact that there weren’t any fans in attendance and the players and coaches weren’t allowed to leave the property. 

China hopes to have similar success while hosting the 2022 Beijing Games this year. 

This year’s Olympics acts as a national achievement for China because the city of Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. It’s also the first time China is hosting a global event since the COVID-19 outbreak when they were forced to close down their borders two years ago.