On January 25, 2022, Minister Counselor Liu Pengyu, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the US, wrote a letter to the Editorial Board of the Washington Post regarding its editorial on Beijing Winter Olympics. Part of the letter was published on January 30, and the full text is as follows:

Regarding Post view “China has a message for Winter Olympic athletes: Shut up and ski” dated January 22, 2022:

Beijing will embrace the Winter Olympics moment next week, carrying forward the Olympic spirit, which requires “mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play” and present streamlined, safe and splendid Olympic Games.

The Olympics should be about sports, not politics. Beijing 2022 should be an international arena for the Olympic spirit, not political manipulation. 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 adversely impacted by the U.S. 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?

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.