China said it may punish athletes whose words and actions go against Chinese laws at next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics, as human rights activists warned participants against speaking out on sensitive issues to ensure their safety during the Games. “Any expression that is in line with the Olympic spirit, I’m sure will be protected. Any behaviour or speeches that are against the Olympic spirit, and especially against Chinese laws and regulations are also subjected to certain punishment,” Yang Shu, the deputy director general of the international relations department of the Beijing organising committee, said on Wednesday. Yang was speaking at an online briefing for the Beijing Games, held by the Chinese embassy in Washington. He said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also had its own penalties for violations of rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which bans any kind of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” at any venue during the Games. With less than one month to the @Beijing2022 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee continues to press forward with hosting the Games, placing the safety and wellbeing of every athlete at risk. @Olympics Full statement ⬇️ https://t.co/uNtfkWRmPS pic.twitter.com/NteVMIJeWY — Global Athlete (@GlobalAthleteHQ) January 12, 2022 Guidelines in the IOC Athletes’ Commission says any breach of rule 50 would first be evaluated by the athlete’s respective national Olympic committee, then the international federation and finally the IOC. Disciplinary action would be decided on a case-by-case basis. Political expression by athletes during major Games occurred as recently at last summer’s 2020 Tokyo Games. US shot putter Raven Saunders protested on the podium after winning silver by raising her arms in an “X” gesture, which symbolises oppression. Team US later found Saunders had not breached any rules, while the IOC paused its investigation after her mother died suddenly soon after event. China has faced international criticism for its alleged oppression of Uygur Muslims in its far-western region of Xinjiang , where human rights groups and a United Nations committee say that as many as one million are detained in “re-education centres”. The US and Canada have labelled China’s policies in Xinjiang as “genocide”, and have led a sanctions blitz against Chinese officials along with the EU and the UK. Several countries have also launched diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Games, citing human rights abuses in the region. The 2022 Beijing Olympics—by which Beijing hopes to “sportswash” its abysmal rights record—reflect Xi Jinping’s assault on human rights since coming to power. #Beijing2022 #CrimesAgainstHumanity pic.twitter.com/N7fPtBHjPO — Human Rights Watch (@hrw) January 18, 2022 China has repeatedly denied these allegations. Jing Quan, the third-ranking diplomat at China’s Washington embassy, objected to the “genocide” narrative at the briefing and added that sport should not be politicised. Noah Hoffman, a cross-country skier who represented the US in two Olympic Games, encouraged athletes to stay silent while in China. “They are not only going to be prosecuted by the Chinese authorities eventually or disappeared, as we’ve seen with Peng Shuai, but they’re also going to be punished by the IOC,” Hoffman said during a media briefing conducted by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday. “So my advice to athletes that are there is that they stay silent.” Former Australian international footballer Craig Foster, a human-rights activist and lawyer, said he feared for the welfare of athletes at the Games because of rule 50 and China admitting athletes may be punished by its own national laws. “Rule 50 and its restraint of free speech on athletes aligns uncommonly well with the CCP’s social repression and athletes should be enraged that both their host, and their governing body, seek to limit their voice,” Foster told the Post . “Chinese government officials and diplomats have confirmed that athletes are being silenced and threatened with draconian penalties in Beijing simply if they speak out against genocide. “Following the Peng Shuai case, however, athletes know they can rely on the IOC only to comply with corrosive and debilitating constraints if not collude in their transmission.” In the face of concerns over tennis player Peng Shuai’s safety after her post on Weibo accusing former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the organisation “can’t give assurances” on Peng’s condition. The IOC later released a photo of a video call between Peng and Bach, with a statement saying that Peng was “safe and well”, and would like to have her privacy respected. Yang declined to say if there was a maximum punishment for athletes whose political expressions go against Chinese laws or Article 50 of the Olympic charter, instead referring to the IOC’s playbook of guidelines for the Games and dedicated departments or organisations. Speaking at an online press conference hosted by Human Rights Watch, Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete, an athlete-led advocacy group, said athletes were being advised against speaking up on human rights issues while in China for their own safety. “There’s really not much protection that we believe that’s going to be afforded to athletes. And the IOC has not come out proactively to indicate that we will protect and make sure everyone is safe,” Koehler said. “Silence is complicity. And that’s why we have a concern.”