As the international community awaits the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), continues to stay on track for its Great Rejuvenation to be completed by 2049.
The two things, separated by 27 years, are intertwined.
The CCP will likely use the Olympics as a public relations venture aimed at producing an image of prosperity and forward-thinking while presenting China as the future economic powerhouse of the region and ultimately the world.
China wants to supplant the United States’ alliances and partnerships, foremost among the Pacific nations and in their region, and come out as the predominant power.
The Chinese are not interested in mere competition. They are not looking to build better widgets. They are not interested in research and medical advancement for its own sake or even for financial profit. It is all about power and dominance.
After the United States showed weakness in its exit from Afghanistan, the Chinese (and others) must think they have an opportunity to move much quicker to achieve their goals.
China has been pushing its oft-stated desire to bring Taiwan under its control, fully and forever. The CCP would eradicate the democratic institutions that Taiwan has achieved much to the CCP’s consternation.
We have seen that international agreements are mere speed bumps to be dealt with sufficiently to squash all semblance of political freedom.
Ask the people of Hong Kong, who expected 50 years of self-rule and democratic leadership. We saw regular protests in the streets until the Chinese Army rolled through those streets. How often do you hear about protests there today?
The Chinese will use the Olympics as a platform to attempt to wipe away fears and assure investors and nations alike that China is a good player on the world stage.
Think 1936. The Berlin Summer Games gave an opening to Nazi Germany to make the world see the clean streets, nice people, and a nation friendly to its neighbors. It worked. Only it was all a lie.
Despite the obvious nature of China’s expansionist efforts, some of the regime’s most willing allies are American-based companies that have made considerable efforts aimed at social justice efforts in the U.S. while turning a blind eye to ongoing large-scale atrocities in China.
Examples abound.
Specific to the Olympics, Newsweek quoted Paul Lalli, Coca-Cola’s so-called Global Head of Human Rights, as saying “the company did not ‘have a position’ on moving or delaying the Games and would ‘follow these athletes wherever they compete.’”
That is an interesting position, given Coca-Cola’s support of Major Baseball’s decision to move last year’s All-Star game out of Atlanta as a protest against Georgia’s new voting rights legislation.
The Coca-Cola CEO, James Quincey, in opposing the legislation, said, according to CNN “(w)e all have a duty to protect everyone’s right to vote, and we will continue to stand up for what is right in Georgia and across the US.”
Want his view on China’s treatment of Uyghurs or threats to Taiwan? Keep waiting if you wish but you will never hear from him or anyone else at Coke.
According to Reuters, Amazon followed the orders of Chinese leaders to “stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China.” That followed criticism of President Xi’s book “The Governance of China.”
Major U.S. technology company Intel “claims to stand for ‘social equity and human rights.’” In China, Intel apologized to the regime for publishing a “warning to its suppliers…of its need to comply with a new U.S. law that restricts imports from China’s Xinjiang province,” wrote Tom Rogan in The Washington Examiner. The law was in response to China’s imprisoning of “one to two million Uyghurs…in concentration camps.” No small thing.
It is important to note that while China is hosting the Winter Games this year, all its other efforts toward 2049 move forward. Full-scale diplomatic, informational, military, and economic operations continue.
Specific to the Olympics, it remains to be seen how NBC covers the event in its news division. Will it be a lovefest or real reporting? The Chinese will likely use COVID to restrict movement for coverage, but will NBC at least report that? Prepare to be unimpressed.
It is important to not allow the 2022 Winter Games to be used as a publicity platform for the CCP, and even more vital that American and other western media outlets are not complicit in any such efforts. We will soon see who agrees.
