In a Provocative Choice, China Picks an Athlete with a Uyghur Name to Help Light the Cauldron
Chris Buckley and Andrew Das of The New York Times report that China chose two athletes, one of Uyghur heritage, to light the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. The symbolic decision came after multiple nations took part in a diplomatic boycott of the games, citing the mistreatment of the Uyghur Muslim population as one of the motivating factors. They write, “The Chinese Communist Party state has conducted a mass detention and re-education campaign targeting Uyghur Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang that the United States has declared as genocidal.”