Free opinion? China threatens foreign athletes with consequences

It was actually just a press conference in preparation for the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing – but there was one statement that made the alarm bells ring among human rights activists. Yang Shu, a member of the organizing committee, bluntly warned foreign athletes against making political statements during the games. “Every statement that corresponds to the Olympic spirit will be protected. Any statement or behavior that violates the Olympic spirit, but especially against Chinese laws and regulations, will have consequences,” Yang Shu warned. The Washington Post and the Reuters news agency reported on the member’s statements. A stark warning to thousands of foreign athletes heading to China over the next two weeks.

The games in China have been under observation for a long time. Not only human rights organizations had criticized the assignment to Beijing because of the mistreatment and persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities as well as other human rights violations. The sudden disappearance of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai at the end of 2021 also caused clear criticism of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as did statements by IOC official Richard Pound. In an interview, he stated that he had never heard of the mistreatment of the Uyghurs and also questioned whether the persecution would even take place.

Political statements are allowed according to the IOC charter

Back to Yang Shu: According to “Reuters”, the member threatened to have his accreditation withdrawn as a possible punishment for breaking the rules – which would also be in the “Playbook” guidelines published by the IOC. However, the 70-page document deals almost exclusively with guidelines for preventing corona infections and does not deal with political issues.

How and whether political statements are allowed is set out in the Olympic Charter. Rule 50.2 there states that political statements have no place in competitions or awarding medals, but are permitted in press conferences, interviews or on social media. At Verein Athleten Deutschland, the association of German squad athletes, people are looking at the upcoming games with mixed feelings. “It expresses what has long been suspected: the athletes’ freedom of expression is not guaranteed at the present time. Athletes should be free to peacefully profess the values ​​of our free and democratic society at any time. Peaceful protest must be possible – also in the arenas,” it says at the request of the stern.

Athletes’ initiative advises against expressing opinions in China

In contrast to the summer games in Tokyo last year, where Rule 50 was relaxed for the first time at the insistence of the athletes, the athletes are rightly more cautious. “The open threat of the member of the organizing committee gives reason to fear that reprisals and disadvantages are to be expected,” the club said. Athletes Germany therefore also sees the IOC as having an obligation to act. “As long as the IOC does not clarify how Rule 50.2 is interpreted in the Chinese context and clearly distance itself from the statements made yesterday by the Organizing Committee, we advise against expressions of opinion.” It is unclear whether China will react to violations of the Olympic charter. So far, such violations have only been punished by the IOC.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has been preparing itself and its athletes for the Games in China for a year now. The DOSB has been in regular contact with human rights organizations and politicians on the situation in China since the beginning of 2021 and as a result has made information available to Team D so that the team members can form their own opinion,” explains a DOSB spokesman at the request of the stern. The DOSB has written a five-page human rights briefing for the athletes, . In addition to a general finding on human rights, the situation of the Uyghurs, the situation in Hong Kong and the Peng Shuai case are also addressed there. “In the past, critical voices (from sport) were answered with retaliation,” warns the DOSB in the briefing. Whether the athletes and supervisors express themselves or not is up to them. “We respect both and place ourselves in front of the members of the team in both cases,” emphasizes the DOSB spokesman.

“The IOC and the host country China will gladly adorn themselves with the pictures of the athletes for their own purposes,” said Maximilian Klein, the association’s international sports policy officer. “However, they do not allow athletes to decide for themselves whether and how they want to use their platform and reach within the framework of their freedom of expression.” The IOC is therefore asked to clearly distance itself from the statements of the organizing committee: “It must show its colors and protect the athletes.”

DOSB advises disposable cell phones

Cyber ​​security is also a concern. In order to be allowed to take part in the games, the athletes must install the “My2022” app. Health data is stored in this on a daily basis before and during the winter games. However, researchers reported during the week that the app collects a lot of sensitive data and the encryption is anything but secure. Among other things, the communication between the app and servers can be easily monitored, and a list of forbidden words – including Xianjing, Tibet or Tiananmen – was discovered. In order to prevent private cell phones from being monitored, all athletes will be given disposable cell phones with the app installed on their arrival in China. “We recommend our athletes not to use their private mobile phones and laptops in China,” explained Dirk Schimmelpfennig, Chef de Mission at the Beijing Games, recently in the “Sportstudio”. The German selection, but also other nations, are facing uncertain winter games, and Schimmelpfennig knows that too: “We have the games with two uncertain factors: one is the Corona factor, the other is the China factor.”

Sources: , , dpa,