Beijing Winter Olympics has become the target of Western politics. Washington is aiming to weaponize sports and has launched a broad campaign against the Beijing Winter Olympics. The United States along with its allies are trying to use human right as a smokescreen to malign China. Diplomatic boycotts are being promoted as an instrument to undermine the sports event by US politicians. President Biden also declared a diplomatic boycott against the event. It means athletes will participate but government officials will boycott the event.
However, a reality check indicates another direction. First, the West does not care about the Muslims or Uyghur Muslims. It is a fact with strong evidence from history. History shows that the US and the West did not show any mercy towards the Muslims. They have applied all possible barbaric means to torture Muslims and history is full of such incidents. In the most recent history, the US and its allies have targeted a number of Muslim countries across the world.
Athletes of Chinese national cross-country skiing team compete during an intra-team simulation competition preparing for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Zhangjiakou City, north China’s Hebei Province, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)
The US government’s human rights violations
Let’s start with the example of Afghanistan. First, the US and its allies used Muslims in Afghanistan and other parts of the world to fight against the USSR during Cold War. After the withdrawal of USSR forces from Afghanistan, they abandoned Afghanistan. They left the country to warlords and Afghanistan plunged into civil war. The US companies came back with business proposals. They tried to convince the Taliban government to establish business linkages but failed. Then the US forces came back with the slogan of war on terrorism. The US troops killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims. Eventually, they handed over Afghanistan to the same Taliban, which they had declared terrorists and fought against for 20 years. It shows that the war on terrorism was nothing except killing innocent Muslims.
Second, the US government selected Iraq for destruction and mass killing of Muslims. The US invaded Iraq with the bluff of weapons of mass destruction. They could not find the weapons of mass destruction. But they killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims in Iraq. Iraq was completely destroyed, and people are suffering on a massive scale.
Third, Libya became chaos after protests and military conflicts in the name of building democracy and defending human rights. The West destroyed a welfare state. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed. Libyan people are at the mercy of proxies of different forces.
Fourth, Syria is another example. The civil war was encouraged, which resulted in a huge loss of life and property.
Owning to these wars, millions of innocent people have become refugees. Unfortunately, the West doesn’t want to accept the refugees from these countries. They are living in miserable conditions on the borders of some European countries.
Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport, on Aug 16, 2021.(Photo/AFP)
The US, the self-assumed champion of human rights, has a really bad record of violating human rights. The story starts with the illegal occupation of the land of America. They killed millions of indigenous residents. The western colonists snatched the land of the local inhabitants. Once owners of the land were forced to live a miserable life. The colonists also imported slaves from other parts of the world and treated them like animals. Even in the US today, black, Asians and other ethnic minorities are suffering. The Black Lives Matter movement is a big question mark to America, as a self-assumed champion of defending human rights.
Now there is a new situation. Racially motivated people in America have started to attack Asian people, especially Chinese people. The US government at this point is unable to secure the rights of all citizens.
The story of European countries is no different. They colonized many countries by applying all means of cruelty and barbaric methods. They even did not hesitate to conduct genocide against local people. They illegally captured the resources of colonized countries. They plundered the resources to develop their own countries. Now in Europe, Islamophobia is on the rise. The worst is that political parties have started to adopt the slogan of Islamophobia and they are introducing different anti-Muslim laws. Muslims are facing multidimensional problems in these societies. They are being attacked and governments are unable to protect them from racial attacks.
The US and Western countries do not care about Muslims or human rights on international issues. For example, Israel is killing Palestine Muslims for decades. They have forced millions of people to leave their native land. But the US and the West are silent over it. The same thing happens in Kashmir. India’s government abuses innocent Muslims and turns Kashmir into an open jail. But the US and the West are silent. They say India is a big market and they can make a lot of money. Besides, India can be used as a pawn against China. So, there is no need to discuss human rights in Kashmir.
People march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the United States, Apr. 4, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)
Political motives in the disguise of human rights
In this context, why does the US suddenly want to champion human rights and act as a protector of the Muslims in China’s Xinjiang? Especially there is no fact of human rights violation or genocide of Muslims in Xinjiang, China. Muslims are enjoying their life in China and playing their role in national development. The development of Muslims and Xinjiang is as equal as other parts of China. In recent times, China enhances investment in Xinjiang and creates new opportunities for local people. But the US and the West have purposely turned blind to these facts. The reason is simple, they have ulterior motives in the disguise of human rights.
On one hand, Washington wants to instigate Muslims to destabilize China and spoil the relations between China and Islamic states. But Muslims in Xinjiang are quite vigilant and refuse the western propaganda. China has also adopted a wise strategy to tackle the issue. China has introduced many programs to create opportunities for Muslims and Uyghurs. The reeducation centers in Xinjiang for vocational training have been stigmatized by the Western governments, media, NGOs, and companies as “concentration camps”. The West has been running a comprehensive campaign on this agenda.
Despite all these tactics and campaigns, they have not got any success. Muslim countries don’t buy the western propaganda but express support for China, thus frustrating the US and its Western allies.
Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2022 shows the interior view of the Main Media Center for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo/Xinhua)
In desperation now they are trying to use Beijing Winter Olympics as a chance to foster their propaganda. The Winter Olympics is a big global event and will draw the attention of people across the world. So, the US and its allies consider it a good opportunity to spread disinformation on a massive scale. There is no chance for the propaganda campaign to prevail. People across the world know that the US is not defending human rights and is only trying to maintain its hegemony. The US and the West only want to check the economic rise of China. They cannot compete with China on a fair basis, so they have adopted the old tricks of human rights to reach the purpose.
The US has launched attacks and imposed sanctions on China for trade, technology, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang affairs over past years. But it is not getting any success to check the economic rise of China. Rather, China has become more committed to the goal of China’s national rejuvenation. President Xi Jinping is steering the nation to move on the path of development. China under his leadership has devised the vision of China in the New Era and working to achieve it.
As for the Beijing Winter Olympics, it is good to notice that the world does not seem to get influenced by the Western propaganda. Many countries have openly criticized the US approach and they are working with China to make the Winter Olympics a success. Pakistan has also shown a strong commitment to spreading the message of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Pakistan is clearly telling the world that sports must be treated as sports and should not be politicized.
China is concentrating on the Winter Olympics and putting all its efforts to make it a success. China is not wasting time coping with baseless propaganda. The world can expect a wonderful sports event in the coming month.
The article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of China Focus.
