Dinigeer Yilamujiang’s inclusion as a ultimate Olympic torchbearer throughout Beijing 2022’s opening ceremony was an enormous speaking level
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics formally received underway on Friday at a stunning opening ceremony, however a extensively mentioned ingredient of the occasion was the inclusion of cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang within the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
The 20-year-old is a medal hopeful in a sport China will not be identified to excel in, but additionally hails from the Xinjiang area.
We clarify why her presence drew added scrutiny, and what has been mentioned following the ceremony.
How was the Olympic cauldron lit in Beijing?
Dinigeer Yilamujiang was joined by majority Han descent athlete Zhao Jiawen, who’s a Nordic mixed skier, and collectively they jogged into the stadium with the Olympic torch whereas greeting the gang.
As soon as they arrived middle stage, the duo put the torch and its small flame inside an enormous snowflake containing the names of competing international locations, which then turned the cauldron and introduced the two-hour ceremony directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou to a detailed with a light-weight present as dancers fashioned a love coronary heart.
Why was the selection of Dinigeer Yilamujiang a controversial situation?
Dinigeer Yilamujiang’s inclusion triggered debate as she is of minority Uighur descent, hailing from the Xinjiang area the place China is accused of putting Uighur Muslims into compelled labor in internment camps. China has vehemently denied these accusations, calling them “absurd” and a “full lie.”
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Forward of the Beijing Video games, the US led a diplomatic boycott of the occasion that has been supported by the likes of the UK, Canada and Australia, in protest at China’s human rights file.
China and its allies together with Russia have accused the US and others of needlessly politicizing sport and going in opposition to the ideas of the Olympic Constitution.
What was the response to the Olympic opening ceremony?
Yilamujiang’s involvement within the opening ceremony was described as “probably the most politically motivated transfer” by Zumretay Arkin of the World Uighur Congress.
At Maryland’s Frostburg State College, an affiliate professor and knowledgeable on the Xinjiang area, Ma Haiyun, mentioned Yilamujiang collaborating was a bid to “handle criticism by the West.”
“By choosing a Uighur athlete to gentle the torch, China is making an attempt to handle criticism by the West about genocide or persecution of the Uighurs, and about sinicization of ethnic minorities,” Ma instructed the AP.
“However I do not assume this could have a lot impact on the West, which tends to assume most of what China places up is a present anyway.”
Varied headlines within the Western media have claimed that the selection of Yilamujiang to gentle the cauldron was a “mighty provocation.”
Elsewhere, nonetheless, consideration has centered on the dazzling visible show at a ceremony which was pared again because of Covid considerations however nonetheless struck an optimistic tone and centered on themes of “peace” and “a brighter future”.
What has the IOC mentioned in regards to the opening ceremony?
Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams defended Yilamujiang’s look by stressing “she is an Olympian competing right here.”
“As you’ll know from the Olympic constitution we don’t discriminate in opposition to folks due to the place they’re from and what their background is.
“She is completely entitled to participate within the opening. I believe it was a beautiful idea,” Adams added.
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Adams confirmed that “clearly the opening ceremony is one thing that the organizing committee put collectively and there is artistic enter,” with the IOC “concerned to a sure extent.”
And based on Video games organizers, the final handful of torchbearers that entered the stadium holding the flame had been chosen based mostly on their date of beginning above all.
Every was born in a unique decade, starting from the Nineteen Fifties by means of to the 2000s, with Yilamujiang and Zhao each born in 2001.
Was that the one row in regards to the Olympic flame?
The presence of Yilamujiang to gentle the cauldron was not the one drama associated to the Olympic flame.
India launched a diplomatic boycott on the eve of the Video games after China selected a military commander as a torchbearer for the relay.
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Qi Fabao, a Individuals’s Liberation Military regimental commander, was critically wounded in a 2020 border conflict between China and India within the disputed Ladakh area, and was declared a “hero” in his homeland.
