Covid keeps Winter Olympics opening a muted affair
Xi presides over lavish ceremony in Beijing stadium, US broadcaster pulls no punches
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping declared the Beijing Winter Olympics open on Friday as China tried to turn the page on a build-up overshadowed by human rights concerns, Covid and a US-led diplomatic boycott.
Fireworks exploded over the “Bird’s Nest” as the lattice-shaped stadium took centre stage, just as it did at the 2008 Games, as Beijing became the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
Xi, under whose rule…