If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you may have seen glimpses of the 2022 Olympics, which have just concluded. This year, the International Olympic Committee gave Beijing the honor of hosting the Olympics. You may have also heard of some of the highlights and winners, such as Canada defeating the US in women’s hockey. However, what many may not know is that there are some countries who boycotted the Olympics this year. You may be wondering, why would a country want to boycott an event as historic and important as the Olympics?
Just a mere 2,000 miles away from Beijing, in the region of Xinjiang, an ethnic minority group known as Uyghur Muslims faces grave atrocities and blatant abuse. For the past 4 years, China has committed numerous human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims by forcibly placing them in “re-education camps”. Simply praying, having more than two children, or even having a long beard is enough for these minorities to be detained. While placed in these camps, the Uyghurs are subjected to severe acts of torture, including rape, forced sterilizations, conversion, abortions, and forced labor. In addition, countless numbers of Uyghurs have died as a result of neglect or abuse. Having held between one and three million people, these camps have become the largest mass internment camps since the Holocaust.
In 2019, Chinese officials declared that the camps were officially closed and falsely claimed that their purpose was solely to train people for certain occupations. However, a year later further investigation proved that these camps were still in existence and still being used to hold Uyghur Muslims against their will. Not only are the Uyghurs held against their will, but they are also prohibited from making any contact with their families or partaking in any religious activities.
The US State Department has officially titled this mass internment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide. With the Olympics being held in Beijing this year, the US as well as nine other countries are participating in a diplomatic boycott of the event. So, while athletes from these countries are still allowed to compete, government officials from those countries refrain from attending. The purpose of a diplomatic boycott is to allow the athletes to partake in what they have been training for their whole lives, while still attempting to bring awareness to the crimes occurring in the host country. Although, many have criticized this method of boycotting since the countries are not taking any direct actions to combat the crimes.
However, this is not the first time that countries have considered boycotting the Olympics. A similar situation occurred in 1936 when the International Olympic Committee made Germany the host country. The Nazi regime used this opportunity to take attention away from the crimes they were committing against the Jews. The exploitation of the Olympics allowed Germany to portray itself as peaceful and conflict-free, while also allowing them to advance their antisemitic agenda. People in America and Europe urged their countries to boycott the Olympics but ultimately were not successful in their efforts.
This year’s Games are eerily similar to those of 1936 Germany. Once again, the International Olympic Committee has allowed the Olympics to occur in a country whose crimes against humanity are widely apparent. In Nazi Germany, at the time of the Games, Hitler temporarily removed antisemitic signs and newspapers to create the illusion of peace. However, as soon as the Games were over the signs and newspapers returned to their original places. Similarly, the Chinese government has closed down some of the internment camps which will most likely return once the Olympics are over.
Another direct similarity is the fact that Beijing chose an Uyghur Muslim skier to take part in the torch-lighting ceremony—a clear attempt to make China seem innocent. Similarly, in response to the criticism, Nazi Germany was facing for excluding Jewish athletes, a Nazi leader allowed a fencer with a Jewish father to participate in the Games.
Just like how Hitler used the Olympics to mask his oppression of the Jewish people in 1936, China is currently using the Olympics to distract the world from and normalize the genocide of Uyghur Muslims.
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