The Beijing Winter Olympics ended on Sunday, and Xi Jinping attended the closing ceremony. The Associated Press reported that it was a “weird” Winter Olympics that was both “chaotic” and “sterile” and that it was isolated in a “bubble” that kept participants at a distance from locals.
Xi Jinping stood with IOC President Thomas Bach on Sunday evening as Beijing handed over the Olympic flame to Milan-Cortina, host of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Internationally, many have criticized the Beijing Winter Olympics as an “authoritarian Olympics” and condemned Chinese authorities for violating the human rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong. To this end, most Western countries boycotted by not sending any official delegations, although they did send athletes.
Geopolitical tensions have also cast a shadow over the Beijing Winter Olympics, with Russia building troops on its border with Ukraine, stoking fears of war in Europe.
In cyberspace, Gu Ailing, a Chinese-American half-blood who chose to fight for China, became an international superstar. Her three medals—two golds and one silver—were widely supported and praised by Chinese netizens. In stark contrast, the incident of 8 children in chains in Xuzhou, which was ignored by the mainstream media in China, sparked public outrage and continued to spread in cyberspace, forcing the Chinese government to take action and set up a provincial investigation team to intervene.
(Editor in charge: Anke)