WASHINGTON: A US rights monitor sounded the alarm Monday over athletes’ safety at China’s upcoming Winter Olympics, after the host threatened “punishment” for anti-Beijing comments.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China — a group of Washington lawmakers and White House officials — asked US Olympics authorities for an “urgent effort” to protect their sports stars’ free speech rights at the Feb 4-20 event.
The commission spoke out after Yang Shu, a senior official in the Beijing Games organising committee, told an online briefing on Jan 18 that “any behaviour or speech that is against the Olympic spirit, especially against the Chinese laws and regulations,…
