onsdag 19. januar 2022

Winter Olympics 2022: China sells Xinjiang as a winter sports hub

As the Beijing Winter Olympics draws nearer, the troubled Xinjiang region is being painted as a poster destination for China's ballooning winter sports industry. Many foreign firms are rushing to be part of that, despite Western countries alleging that China is committing genocide against ethnic Muslims there.

The reach of the winter games in China is extending far beyond Beijing. When I get through to online influencer Yao via video call he is standing on top of a mountain at sunset, about to snowboard down. It is an image of China that you're going to see a lot of over the next few weeks as the Winter Olympics kicks off; beautiful, snow-covered slopes. But Yao isn't anywhere near the host city of Beijing. He is in Xinjiang - the region with, arguably, the best snow and the best climate in China. It is also the region where the US and others say China is committing genocide against its minority Uyghur population.