IOC chief Bach chides Beijing Olympics organisers over Taiwan, Xinjiang comments

Bach says Bocog reminded to keep politics out of the Games and remain neutral

Statement comes a day after Bocog spokeswoman responds to reporters’ questions about forced labour and sterilisations

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International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says the IOC has reminded Beijing organisers to remain politically neutral. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 3:53pm, 18 Feb 2022Updated: 4:22pm, 18 Feb 2022

The IOC called an immediate meeting with Chinese organisers to remind them to keep politics out of the Beijing Olympics, president Thomas Bach said on Friday, after a local spokeswoman hit back at “lies” about Xinjiang.

“This problem we did not ignore,” International Olympic Committee chief Bach said, a day after a spokeswoman for the local organising committee, Bocog, hit back at questions from foreign media about Taiwan and human rights in Xinjiang.

“We were in touch with Bocog immediately after this press conference and then both organisations, Bocog and the IOC, have restated the unequivocal commitment to remain politically neutral, as it is required by the Olympic Charter.”

The United States has led a diplomatic boycott by some Western nations at the Games over rights concerns in China, especially the fate of the mostly Muslim Uygur minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Campaigners say that at least 1 million Uygurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in camps in Xinjiang, while there are also allegations of forced sterilisations of women and forced labour.

“These issues are irrelevant to the Winter Games but I still feel obliged to make a quick comment again,” Bocog spokeswoman Yan Jiarong said on Thursday, after foreign reporters twice asked about Xinjiang.

“The questions are based very much on lies. Some authorities have already disputed such false information with a lot of solid evidence.”