Chinese President Xi Jinping has written to two Washington state mayors after receiving well wishes at the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, a Democrat, and Steilacoom Mayor Dick Muri, a Republican, sent letters in January to wish Xi a happy new year and a successful Winter Games. They were surprised to receive replies on Monday, local news outlet KING 5 reported.
“At the people level, we can still do great things,” Muri told KING 5. “We need to tone it down whenever possible.”
Xi began both letters with the paragraph: “It is a great pleasure to receive your letter. Thank you for your greetings on the Chinese Lunar New Year and your best wishes for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.”
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He told both that “Beijing 2022 will be a joyful event for the Chinese people and a major event for the international Olympic cause.”
Xi expounded on his letter to Woodards as Tacoma, Washington, is a sister city to Fuzhou, China. The president visited a Tacoma high school in 2015.
“I have visited the beautiful City of Tacoma twice, and I still keep the football and jersey given to me by the students of Lincoln High School,” Xi wrote. “I commend your active role since taking office in promoting the friendship between China and the City of Tacoma. It is great to see your personal attendance at last year’s event at Lincoln High School celebrating the 50th anniversary of China-U.S. Ping-Pong diplomacy.”
Xi was referring to a 1971 event when the first Americans, a table tennis team, visited the country since the takeover of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
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Beijing is the first city to host both winter and summer Olympics, and it is expecting 3,000 athletes from 90 countries. The United States has instilled a “diplomatic boycott” of the Games, meaning no official delegation will attend. Some conservative lawmakers and pundits have called for a complete boycott over the origins of COVID-19 and human rights abuses.
