The Shadow
Diplomatic boycotts because of Uyghur genocide, security issues regarding privacy and censorship practices by the People’s Republic of China present challenges for Beijing, the site of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
During the first week of Dec. in 2021, President Joe Biden announced the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics that are scheduled to get underway on Feb. 4. No officials from the U.S. will attend the Winter Olympics with the 200 athletes and their coaches due to human rights violations that China has conducted against the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in its northwestern province.
The Biden administration has pointed out that China continues to operate mass detention camps and force Uyghurs along with other undesirable minorities to become sterilized.
China responded that the boycott is not in the spirit of the Olympic Games and vowed to take resolute countermeasures without naming what those measures might be.
Thus far, the U.S. has 172 athletes on its Winter Olympic roster with 28 more slots to fill. The athletes will compete in the following disciplines in seven sports: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, and Freestyle Skating.
Others are Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard, Speed Skating, Ice Hockey, and Luge.
Beijing National Stadium will be the main site with four other indoor facilities that were built for the 2008 Summer Olympics being utilized as well.
Besides the diplomatic boycott, another controversy stems from privacy issues. Beijing is requiring all attendees to use a smartphone app that may present security problems in that China will be able to intercept and collect data from the use of the app.
Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog group, has warned that the My2022 app contains flawed encryption that makes the device vulnerable to being hacked.
Chinese internet service providers or telecommunications companies could read content via Wi-Fi hotspots in airports, hotels, and Olympic venues.
The U. S. Olympic Paralympic Committee has issued an advisory to athletes and coaches warning them to assume that every device, every communication transaction, and online activity will be monitored by the Chinese.
The health app that Beijing is requiring will monitor the athletes’ daily health, then require a daily report as a defensive move to identify and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.
Official guidelines issued by the Olympic Committee call for all attendees to download the app before entering China.
However, the International Olympic Committee claims that the smartphone app is not compulsory and that two testing organizations have cleared the app of any vulnerabilities.
Nevertheless, the athletes, coaches, and media personnel are being required to log into China’s health monitoring system two weeks before their departure or log in via a PC or web browser.
The Citizen Lab claims that security vulnerabilities have been found in the MY2022 app that contains flaws found in Chinese web browsers and in the Chinese app ecosystem.
Although Citizen Lab reported the flaws to the Beijing Organizing Committee, no response has been forthcoming.
Citizen Lab also reported security flaws that may run afoul of Google’s and Apple’s policies as they apply to software, the use of iPhones, and Android devices.
Disturbing information concerning transparency and censorship has been discovered. China has compiled a list of 2,442 keywords that could be politically sensitive and relate to China’s actions toward Tibet and the Uyghurs.
Considering China’s long history of censorship, the tagging of words that government officials consider to be politically sensitive or inappropriate is controversial, especially after China’s recent political crackdown in Hong Kong and its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace with its fighter jets.
It is anticipated that more than 2,800 male and female athletes from around the world will compete in the Winter Olympics set to begin on Feb. 4 and end on Feb. 20.
All controversies aside, the People’s Republic of China can boast that Beijing will soon become the only city in the world to host both the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics.
