The Omicron version of the coronavirus is a source of anxiety for Beijing Winter Olympics organisers, but China has informed that the events will take place as planned in February.
The new variant is the latest obstacle for the games, which have been criticised for several reasons such as lack of natural snow in Beijing, China’s human rights record and tennis player Peng Shuai’s recent accusations of sexual assault against a former top Communist Party leader.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that Omicron will ‘definitely offer some obstacles in terms of prevention and management’ during a daily briefing on Tuesday.
‘I’m totally convinced that the Winter Olympics will go through as planned, smoothly, and effectively,’ Zhao added, noting China’s experience in mostly suppressing widespread infections since the pandemic began in late 2019 in Wuhan, the country’s capital.
China has some of the world’s tightest anti-virus travel controls and has stated that foreign spectators will not be permitted at the events. Athletes, staff and journalists will be confined to bubbles for the length of the competition, which will be held in three different places in Beijing, Yanqing and Hebei province.
In addition to logistical and health concerns, China faces the possibility that the United States and other Western democracies will refuse to send government officials to the games in protest of China’s treatment of Turkic Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities, as well as civil society and human rights activists.
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