BEIJING: A Winter Olympics overshadowed by rights concerns and Covid will officially begin in Beijing on Friday with an opening ceremony at the “Bird’s Nest” stadium.
The distinctive lattice-shaped arena took centre stage at the 2008 Games — seen as China’s coming-out party to the world — and will do so again as Beijing becomes the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
Friday’s opening ceremony starts at 8:00pm (1200 GMT) and will be attended by President Xi Jinping, under whose rule China has become a much more belligerent proposition in global affairs compared to 14 years ago.
Xi, who will announce the Games are officially open, will be joined by leaders including his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin but…
