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Washington (People’s Daily) – Minister Counselor Liu Pengyu, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the US, said the Olympics should be about sports, not politics, in a letter to the Washington Post, in response to its editorial on the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Liu reiterated that Beijing will carry forward the Olympic spirit of mutual understanding “with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play” and present a streamlined, safe and splendid Olympic Games.

Liu said the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics should be an international arena for the Olympic spirit, not for political manipulation. He said it is unethical to take the athletes hostage in the name of “free speech” and force them to “speak out” against International Olympic Committee rules, especially when narratives have been manipulated by the US government and some media outlets.

“To name just one: Xinjiang’s Uyghur population grew from 8.34 million to 11.62 million in the past two decades, with an average annual growth much higher than the national average. If there had been any genocide, how could the Uyghur population have increased so much?” said Liu.

The spokesperson pointed out that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be a huge success. Every participant will be a winner. The only losers are the rumormongers who make futile attempts to politicize sports.