Dubai Telegraph - Beijing Olympics begins torch relay under shadow of Covid, rights fears

EUR -
AED 3.879921
AFN 70.774705
ALL 97.658441
AMD 409.488241
ANG 1.905213
AOA 963.376768
ARS 1054.320885
AUD 1.627536
AWG 1.901401
AZN 1.801486
BAM 1.943481
BBD 2.134372
BDT 126.319293
BGN 1.9558
BHD 0.398119
BIF 3061.256379
BMD 1.056334
BND 1.412811
BOB 7.304697
BRL 6.133815
BSD 1.057139
BTN 89.15023
BWP 14.343757
BYN 3.459372
BYR 20704.14942
BZD 2.130774
CAD 1.478319
CDF 3026.39715
CHF 0.935785
CLF 0.037514
CLP 1035.112444
CNY 7.631383
CNH 7.652882
COP 4731.320676
CRC 539.798787
CUC 1.056334
CUP 27.992855
CVE 110.756993
CZK 25.285045
DJF 187.73139
DKK 7.458754
DOP 63.776161
DZD 141.547711
EGP 52.10252
ERN 15.845012
ETB 128.925753
FJD 2.399199
FKP 0.831283
GBP 0.831356
GEL 2.884081
GGP 0.831283
GHS 17.012698
GIP 0.831283
GMD 74.999517
GNF 9116.163919
GTQ 8.168224
GYD 221.158132
HKD 8.219706
HNL 26.472039
HRK 7.535367
HTG 138.99552
HUF 407.89813
IDR 16738.565373
ILS 3.965716
IMP 0.831283
INR 89.179585
IQD 1384.325909
IRR 44463.742746
ISK 147.284729
JEP 0.831283
JMD 167.357086
JOD 0.749047
JPY 164.334965
KES 136.790508
KGS 91.061436
KHR 4278.153377
KMF 492.621303
KPW 950.700505
KRW 1481.899804
KWD 0.324971
KYD 0.880916
KZT 521.017397
LAK 23181.253406
LBP 94594.723681
LKR 308.961568
LRD 194.36531
LSL 19.278261
LTL 3.11908
LVL 0.638966
LYD 5.144042
MAD 10.518957
MDL 19.048258
MGA 4917.235703
MKD 61.531456
MMK 3430.932127
MNT 3589.423527
MOP 8.469315
MRU 42.121293
MUR 49.531301
MVR 16.320345
MWK 1833.795702
MXN 21.69129
MYR 4.711444
MZN 67.498546
NAD 19.277515
NGN 1771.95785
NIO 38.851914
NOK 11.767666
NPR 142.642227
NZD 1.796592
OMR 0.406667
PAB 1.057099
PEN 4.016129
PGK 4.156411
PHP 62.152628
PKR 293.713639
PLN 4.341243
PYG 8250.095155
QAR 3.845638
RON 4.975967
RSD 116.975311
RUB 104.047459
RWF 1441.89612
SAR 3.969228
SBD 8.855836
SCR 14.40717
SDG 635.387436
SEK 11.603515
SGD 1.418836
SHP 0.831283
SLE 24.100276
SLL 22150.800682
SOS 603.695541
SRD 37.267363
STD 21863.98426
SVC 9.24937
SYP 2654.071001
SZL 19.278362
THB 36.91096
TJS 11.263007
TMT 3.707733
TND 3.32481
TOP 2.474044
TRY 36.2854
TTD 7.183466
TWD 34.278574
TZS 2809.848602
UAH 43.672836
UGX 3879.409365
USD 1.056334
UYU 44.567497
UZS 13547.485199
VES 47.531547
VND 26772.789136
VUV 125.410144
WST 2.954552
XAF 651.855898
XAG 0.034887
XAU 0.000411
XCD 2.854796
XDR 0.796378
XOF 651.239726
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.875515
ZAR 19.259818
ZMK 9508.281216
ZMW 28.91707
ZWL 340.139167
  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • RBGPF

    -0.8500

    59.34

    -1.43%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.11

    -0.7%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

Beijing Olympics begins torch relay under shadow of Covid, rights fears
Beijing Olympics begins torch relay under shadow of Covid, rights fears

Beijing Olympics begins torch relay under shadow of Covid, rights fears

The Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay began its truncated journey to Friday's opening ceremony as China tried to move on from the diplomatic boycotts and Covid fears that have dogged the build-up to the Games.

Text size:

The sport starts later Wednesday with curling, two days before the official opening of an Olympics overshadowed by controversies ranging from rights concerns to Peng Shuai and warnings about snooping by the Chinese government.

Adopting the catchphrase "Together for a shared future", China, its ruling Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee hope all the rancour will be forgotten once the Games get into full swing.

When Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games, the torch relay took in swathes of China and other countries -- where it met protests in places -- but this time it will last just three days, ending at the "Bird's Nest" stadium for the opening ceremony.

Beijing 2022 official Cai Qi said at the start of the relay -- which will involve more than 1,000 torchbearers and reportedly included former NBA star Yao Ming -- that he hoped the Games would help "dispel the gloom of the pandemic".

If the 2008 Olympics were the country's coming-out party, these Games will take place in a China under President Xi Jinping which is increasingly belligerent on the global stage and boasting the world's second-largest economy.

When Washington said it would stage a diplomatic boycott because of rights concerns -- with Australia, Britain and Canada among those following suit -- China warned the United States would "pay the price".

The Biden administration will not send diplomatic or official representation over what it called China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity" against Muslim Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang.

Athletes of the boycotting countries will compete at the Games, which run until February 20, but a US rights monitor sounded the alarm this week over athletes' safety after the hosts threatened "punishment" for anti-Beijing comments.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China -- a group of Washington lawmakers and White House officials -- asked US Olympics authorities for an "urgent effort" to protect their stars if they speak out.

- Surveillance -

There are other controversies. IOC president Thomas Bach says that while in Beijing he will meet Peng, a Grand Slam-winning tennis player who alleged in November that she had been sexually assaulted by a former vice-premier.

Peng was not heard from for nearly three weeks, only to reappear, but there are concerns about how free she really is.

Fearing surveillance, some Western nations have told their athletes to leave their personal devices at home and use temporary burner phones.

There are signs that China is tightening the noose on anyone daring to spoil the party, with human rights activists and some academics having their WeChat messaging app accounts restricted in recent weeks.

China, where Covid-19 emerged towards the end of 2019, has pursued a zero-Covid policy nationwide and is taking the same approach at the Olympics by cocooning all participants inside a "closed loop".

The highly infectious Omicron variant presents a new challenge, both to the Games and the country, putting already jittery authorities further on edge. Cases in Beijing have been ticking upwards, albeit from a low base number.

Organisers say they expect cases in the bubble -- nearly 250 have already been recorded -- but their goal is to keep the spread to a minimum.

They hope the bubble will be impregnable, keeping the nearly 3,000 athletes together with tens of thousands of support staff, volunteers and media cut off from the outside world.

China barred overseas spectators because of the pandemic but there will be a limited number of spectators and organisers say the venues could be up to 50 percent full.

- Face of the Games -

The Games will be held in three zones. In addition to downtown Beijing, the two other areas are outside the capital and will rely on artificial snow to cover what would otherwise be brown mountainsides. Environmentalists have voiced concern.

It is easy to forget there is some sport actually taking place.

American ski ace Mikaela Shiffrin is chasing a third slalom gold, while Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu is looking to make it a hat-trick of figure-skating Olympic titles.

There will be huge interest in Chloe Kim, the American snowboarder who melted hearts when she won gold aged 17 at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, while Eileen Gu looks like being the face of the Games.

The 18-year-old grade-A student, born and raised in California, switched from the United States to represent China and is hot favourite in freestyle skiing.

F.Damodaran--DT