The International Olympic Committee recently praised China’s readiness for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics. It should be pulling the event from the country instead.
A bipartisan group of senators called on the IOC in March to strip the games from Beijing unless China’s human rights issues were addressed. China’s human rights abuses have been clear for some time now, between detaining Uighur Muslims and other religious minorities, suppression of dissent, and its crackdown on Hong Kong, among others. Even if the IOC didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, it could cite China being ground zero for the novel coronavirus outbreak as a safety concern to move the games elsewhere.
Instead, the IOC opted to praise China for making so much progress amid a pandemic the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for.
If the IOC won’t strip China of the games because it would be too quick of a turnaround to hold the games elsewhere, then a simple compromise would be for the IOC to stop entertaining future bids from the world’s worst human rights abusers. The IOC has granted Olympic games in recent years to Russia (2014) and China (2008 and 2022) and gave the 2014 Youth Olympics to China as well. Turkey made a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics before they were awarded to Tokyo, and the chairman of the Turkish National Olympic Committee has called on the country to press ahead with a bid for 2032. Bids like these must be rejected out of hand until the human rights records of those countries improve.
The 1936 Summer Olympics remain a stain on the Olympics’ brand. The “Nazi Games” were Adolf Hitler’s propaganda power play, credited with helping him hold off any opposition once the grandeur of Berlin’s preparations were on display. Perhaps the IOC has been plagued by corruption for so many years that it’s become numb to its many criticisms. Perhaps 1936 was simply too long ago, or perhaps the IOC knows that it can hold the Olympics wherever it chooses and other nations will still come.
It will be tough to hear for athletes who train their entire lives for an opportunity that comes only once every four years, but countries around the world should consider boycotting the 2022 Games in Beijing. At the very least, it should be made clear to the IOC that any future games held in a country with an atrocious human rights record such as China, Russia, or Turkey will be boycotted. If the IOC is unwilling to perform its duties with any dignity, the free world should make it easier for it.
