Opinion – Edgard Alves: Pandemic brings more tension to the Winter Games than US boycott

As in Tokyo, Japan, in the middle of last year, the capital of China, Beijing, is also struggling against the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic to hold the winter version of the Olympic Games, scheduled to open on the 4th.

The Japanese faced a year of postponement, from 2020 to July 2021, of the summer version of the Olympics, and managed to complete the work even with the pandemic registering deaths in all parts of the world. Although at risk of tragedy, it was a memorable feat.

After about five months, the hot potato is in the hands of the Chinese to carry out the winter version of the Olympics. It is good to make it clear that so far there has been no threat of postponement of the event, but the omicron variant of the coronavirus causes a lot of apprehension. Although it presents a less deadly picture, the variant is more aggressive in contamination, according to several experts.

When comparing the populations of the two countries, the numbers are quite different: Japan has 125 million inhabitants and China, 1 billion and 400 million.

The population calculations of cities and metropolitan regions vary according to the method adopted, therefore, they are not reliable for direct comparisons. Surveys point to 37 million for Tokyo, the region with the highest concentration of people in the world. In Beijing, disclosure data spikes 22.1 million, but two other zones will also have disputes: Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

In Japan, 11,092 athletes were registered for the Games, representing 205 countries. In China, the forecast is for 90 countries. At the last Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, records indicated 2922 athletes (1680 men and 1242 women) from 92 countries.

Faced with health risks, China has reduced the ceremonies, making them much smaller than those of the 2008 Summer Olympics, also held in Beijing. Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, head of the opening and closing ceremonies, reprising his role from the 2008 Olympics, said the opening at the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, will feature around 3,000 performers and last less than 100 minutes. . The number of artists is equivalent to a fifth of the 2008 ceremony and the duration is less than half.

Tianin, a city of 1.4 million, considered an important gateway to Beijing, has just started testing for Covid-19 throughout its area. The anti-epidemic measure was boosted by the confirmation, last weekend, of two Ômicron infections in the community. There are other cities with strong restrictions to fight the virus.

It cannot be emphasized enough that China was the birthplace of the new coronavirus pandemic, at the end of 2019, in the city of Wuhan, in the center of the country. With drastic measures in the fight against the virus, it contained the worsening of contamination in its territory, but did not prevent the pandemic.

In any case, and as far as possible, the Chinese do not measure efforts to apply countermeasures to ensure the good health of the population and visitors related to the Games.

The promise of organizers and government officials that measures will be further intensified in the coming weeks fuels a vote of confidence from overseas Olympic participants. After the Games close on February 20, the Winter Paralympics are scheduled from March 4 to 13.

In addition to the pandemic, which leaves the nerves of the Chinese on edge, the organizers of the Games and the country’s rulers are beset by the diplomatic boycott announced by the United States and which so far has the support of few allies.

The move stirs up rivals in the Olympic country, throws rocks at China’s government, putting it under pressure in protest over alleged inhumane treatment, genocide, humiliation, torture and violence against Muslims in China’s Xinjiqng province.

Several countries and HRW (Human Rights Watch), an international human rights organization, also agree with the US view. Despite this, the protest movement does not seem to threaten the competitions, as all members of the boycott will release their athletes to fight for medals in Beijing. It feels like a political bluff, it makes noise but doesn’t move.