- IOC rejects criticism of Olympics app
- Beijing uses cybersecurity as leverage
- German Research minister urges caution on China cooperation
- Baerbock and Yi meet
- French parliament classifies situation in Xinjiang as genocide
- Massive expansion of high-speed rail network planned
- On every second roof – record expansion of photovoltaics
- Johnny Erling: ration cards, shortages and the right lessons
Beijing and the IOC will celebrate the Winter Olympics with splendor and fanfare. It’s China’s next opportunity to use the big world stage to show the world its best side. Athletes will be mere extras in the big spectacle.
That much is already obvious, even before the Games actually begin. One giveaway is the app that all athletes, officials, journalists, and helpers are required to use – otherwise, they won’t even get access to the competition venues. An investigation uncovered security gaps in the app. Instead of addressing them, however, the IOC is brushing concerns aside, as Marcel Grzanna writes. This example reveals the problems that arise when major sporting events are awarded to authoritarian regimes.
Not only the IOC is criticized for its close ties to China. Big international corporations are facing growing criticism if they continue to source products from Xinjiang which are believed to have been made through forced labor. But China is also turning the tables. Currently, authorities are using the cybersecurity law to expose Walmart, Frank Sieren reports. The US retail giant has been reprimanded for alleged security holes on its website. But this is merely a thinly veiled retaliation for Walmart’s decision to partially pull goods from Xinjiang.
International companies find themselves in a quandary: Their countries are passing more and more laws against products made under forced labor – but if they comply, they could invoke China’s wrath. Easy solutions? Not in this case.
I hope you enjoy today’s issue and have a pleasant weekend!
Nico Beckert
Feature
IOC justifies risks of Olympics app: turning a blind eye
The friendship between the People’s Republic of China and Thomas Bach is literally carved in stone. Just last week, a 72-cm stone bust depicting the likeness of the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was erected in the Dongsi Olympic Community Park, just north of the Forbidden City. The face of the former world-class fencer, who is responsible for bringing the Winter Olympics (Feb. 4-20) to Beijing, joins existing statues of some of his predecessors in office. Among them, Juan Antonio Samaranch and Jacques Rogge, who brought the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing.
The stone immortalization is an expression of the Communist Party’s gratitude to Bach. The regime appreciates his tireless efforts to defend the renewed awarding of the Olympic Games to a dictatorship and to parry every attack on the hosts.
The IOC once again proved its reliability as Beijing’s advocate in the middle of this week. The powerful sports organization defended the Olympic app My2022, which has come under criticism. An investigation by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab had exposed significant security flaws. But instead of publicly addressing the IT experts’ concerns, the IOC swept the discussion under the rug.
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