Supporting the Beijing Winter Olympics Benefits All Athletes and Beyond
For Immediate Release
February 28, 2021
Supporting the Beijing Winter Olympics Benefits All Athletes and Beyond
– Petition for Supporting Beijing Winter Olympics by Community Organizations
Vancouver, BC – The XXIV Olympic Winter Games (“Beijing Winter Olympics”) will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou in February 2022. Canadian athletes are a frequent sight amongst gold medalists in the Winter Olympics. Out of the seven major events, Canada has won Gold Medals in six. In Ice Hockey, Canada dominates (8 men’s Ice Hockey Gold Medals and 4 consecutive women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medals). Canada is a veritable winter sports powerhouse. In the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Canada won 11 Gold, 8 Silver, and 10 Bronze Medals, ranking third overall in the standings. Canadians look forward to replicating and even surpassing in Beijing their success in PyeongChang.
Since 2017, preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics have proceeded in earnest and according to schedule. This is the result of hard work by countless people over the course of more than a thousand days and nights.
However, in early February 2021, certain organizations began calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. On February 8, certain Canadian political figures wrote letters urging the International Olympic Committee (the “IOC”) to relocate the Beijing Winter Olympics to another country, due to reports of alleged but unproven human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region.
Such unfounded calls based on unproven allegations caused grave concerns among numerous Chinese Canadians living in Canada, as well as many other stakeholders. On February 4, 2021, Canadian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General David Shoemaker and Canadian Paralympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Karen O’Neill issued an open letter to express their disapproval of the call for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee also recently said in a statement that it opposes a boycott of the Games, as this will have a negative impact on athletes.
We are Canadian community organizations representing many Chinese-Canadians who have immigrated from China. Our members are Canadian citizens, permanent residents and organizations that they have formed. We are very excited to see what Canadian athletes will achieve at the Beijing Winter Olympics. We also compliment the hard work of countless people in China in constructing the Winter Olympics sports venues and service facilities in order to host athletes from around the world. We strongly oppose and condemn any boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Political and ideological issues should not be mixed with sports. The politicization of sports violates the spirit of the Olympic Charter. The IOC has stated on many occasions that agreeing to host the Olympic Games in China does not mean that the IOC agrees to the political structure, social environment or human rights standards of the host country. The Olympics has always carried a meaning and a symbol of world unity and we hope the Beijing Winter Olympics will provide such opportunities for unity and friendship. We acknowledge that there are issues between Canada and China and we sincerely hope and believe that the great people of the two countries and their governments will have the wisdom and fortitude to resolve those issues and restart their long-time friendship.
A boycott is not a helpful solution to addressing issues between the Canadian and Chinese governments. Rather, a boycott will only serve to divide people and worsen existing issues. We are also concerned about the unintended consequences of a boycott. For example, Asian-Canadians living in Canada are already targets of increased racism, hate speech and hate crimes. A boycott will further marginalize those people, and eventually other visible minorities; such marginalization is contrary to Canadian values.
We sincerely call on people of all ethnicities to resolutely oppose any boycott. It will be the athletes, and the Olympic Games itself, that will suffer the most from a boycott.
Let the Olympic Spirit shine forever!
For further information, please contact:
Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA)
Attention: Ms. Xiaomei Xue
Email: official.caca.info@gmail.com
This English version is the official version and stands for the position of the below organizations. If and to the extent of any discrepancy with any previous version, the official English version will prevail.
Co-sponsored by:
Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA)
