MEGHAN MCCAIN: Spineless global community allows China to host Olympic games. I am repulsed.

As we enter year three of what feels like the never-ending, forever pandemic of Covid-19 which originated in Wuhan, China, most people I know (who aren’t trying to spin propaganda or are worried about being called racist) believe the lab-leak hypothesis.

Whistleblower and hero doctor, Li Wenliang was one of the first people to alert the world to the threat posed by coronavirus and was detained in December for spreading news about the virus while the Chinese government downplayed the severity of the outbreak and its risk to the public. 

He was accused of rumor-mongering by the Chinese police and later tragically died of coronavirus.

His story is yet another glaring example of the country’s severe censorship and commitment to propaganda. 

There is a long, dark and evil list of atrocities the communist Chinese government has committed in the past few years that the international community should — but only sometimes seems to be — outraged by.

The atrocities include the detainment of over one million Uyghurs in what the state calls ‘education and vocation training’ camps.

There is evidence the Uyghurs are being subjected to forced labor and forcibly sterilized.

Former camp detainees have also alleged they were tortured and sexually abused.

The atrocities include the detainment of over one million Uyghurs in what the state calls ‘ education and vocation training ‘ camps. (Above) Uyghur detainees in China’s Hotan Prefecture in April 2017.

The United States is among several countries to accuse China of committing genocide in Xinjiang. 

Leading human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have published reports accusing them of crimes against humanity and genocide. 

One of China’s most popular and accomplished tennis star’s, Peng Shuai, disappeared from public view in early November after a rare public allegation of sexual assault against a retired top official in China’s Communist Party.

She went missing and 50 days later she gave an interview denying accusing anyone of sexual assault and suggested concern for her safety stemmed from a misunderstanding.

Shall I go on? China is an oppressive, tyrannical, communist country that conducts itself more like a dystopian hellscape from a science fiction movie than one of the most powerful countries in 2022.

There is no freedom of speech, religion, or thought. The regime regularly engages in the worst possible behavior against their own citizens, and they repress and target anyone who questions them. 

So, after all of this, this raises the question of why exactly has the international community agreed to let China host the 2022 Winter Olympics?

Because the news that has leaked out about what our athletes will be subjected to also reads like a dystopian science fiction novel.

China is warning athletes about speaking out about politics at the Olympic games with threats that athletes will be punished if they stage anti-Beijing protests.

They are also being warned that the disappearance of tennis-star Peng Shuai is an example of the risks of speaking up.

The United States is advising athletes to take burner phones to avoid the threat of hackers and spies.

They have been told of the ‘Orwellian’ levels of surveillance that they will be under in Beijing with researchers warning that a virus-monitoring app (required for all attendees) was found to have a ‘simple but devastating’ encryption flaw.

Again, why are we doing this?

Why can’t we hold the Olympics in a normal country without egregious human rights violations and insane, draconian tracking of athletes?

It is disgraceful that the Olympic committee let this even be an option to host the games and it is disgraceful that countries like the United States have gone along with it.

Above all, I feel the worst for the athletes, who have worked their entire careers for this opportunity to have it shrouded in all of this controversy and insanity.

And finally, to add insult to injury, Beijing is a ‘bleak snowless landscape’ with a ski center near Beijing that had just 2cm of snow between January and March in 2021.

Photographs show the ski jumping center sitting amidst a landscape of dry brown hills. Canada wasn’t an option for this?

The international community has gone soft and has no backbone. We should not be so willing to allow China’s behavior to be normalized on the world stage.

We are giving this country an international stage to spread propaganda while at the same time not holding them accountable for their role in leaking the coronavirus and then intentionally downplaying it’s severity, so the rest of the world would not have time to properly prepare for its dangers and risk.

There have been 343 million people infected with the coronavirus globally and 5.57 million deaths – to date.

This is obviously China’s responsibility and to pretend otherwise is absurd.

We are normalizing and accepting the behavior of one of the worst communist dictatorships in all of world history.

There is no accountability or consequences for their behavior or actions.

It repulses me. It should repulse everyone. Going forward, will there be any penalties if — god forbid — there is another deadly outbreak of a virus or any other country decides to start mass exterminating innocent civilians because of their religion?

The international community has gone soft and has no backbone.

We should not be so willing to allow China’s behavior to be normalized on the world stage.

Going along with this Olympic spectacle is not something that ought to be done with a regime that has fueled the opioid crisis, brutalized its citizens, and poisoned the world with a virus.

But the lack of courage to stand up against them is apparent in Washington and sadly around the globe.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves for aiding and abetting this regime.

All I know is, I for one will not be watching or partaking in any Olympic events this year. It’s too depressing… and there is no Olympic spirit in that.