Source: Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States
On January 25, 2022, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, wrote to the newspaper's editorial board on the Washington Post's negative editorials about the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, some of which were published on the newspaper's January 30 commentary page. The full text of the letter reads as follows:
Reply to the Washington Post's January 22 editorial "China's Message to Winter Olympic Athletes: Silence then Ski":
Beijing is about to usher in the "Winter Olympics". China will take this as an opportunity to vigorously carry forward the Olympic spirit of "unity and fraternity, fair competition and mutual understanding" and dedicate a simple, safe and wonderful Olympic event to the world.
The Olympics are a sporting event, not a political arena. The Beijing Winter Olympics is an arena for the Olympic spirit and should not be subject to political interference and manipulation. Forcing athletes to "take a stand" in disregard of IOC rules in the name of "freedom of speech" is a naked moral kidnapping, especially the rhetoric on China that has been trumpeted in the editorials is based on the China-related lies long spread by the US government and some media.
To cite just one example: The Uyghur population in Xinjiang, China, grew from 8.34 million in 2000 to 11.62 million in 2020, with an average annual growth rate well above the average growth level of the country's ethnic minority population over the same period. If there is "genocide," how can the Uighurs have grown so dramatically?
The Beijing Winter Olympics are set to be a great success, and every participant is a winner. Those who seek to politicize sports are bound to fail.