To be chosen as a spectator for these Olympic events, you are most likely to be from a Communist Party organisation, a state company, or a student group. There are also local government officials with tickets to the Games, sponsors, and a smattering of diplomats. BBC
Peter Dutton has doubled down on controversial claims China would like Labor to defeat the Morrison government at the upcoming federal election despite Malcolm Turnbull warning such “reckless” comments had “no basis in fact” and harmed Australia’s national security. The defence minister said on Friday there was “no doubt in [his] mind” about what he described as a “statement of the obvious” regarding China’s preference of Labor. He claimed he based Thursday’s inflammatory allegation on “open source and other intelligence”. The Morrison government, struggling in the polls, is increasingly seeking…
In the 10,000, skaters must push themselves to skate just below their maximum effort, and then hold on for dear life through 25 laps. Van der Poel’s training for the event differs from most of his competitors in that it includes no strength training. Instead, in the spring and summer he does enormous amounts of low-intensity training, like those ultramarathons and bike rides. When speedskating season arrives in the fall and winter, van der Poel switches to high-intensity training, but mostly only speedskating itself. He estimates that he has skated…
Advertisement Last week, Fernando Cheung, a former pro-democracy lawmaker who earned high respect for defending minorities and marginalized groups in the city, was sentenced to jail for three weeks, as he was convicted of contempt of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong back in 2020. He did not commit any violent acts in legislative meetings; rather, he stood before the chairperson of the meeting and chanted slogans for 44 minutes. The chairperson decided to dislodge him after three warnings. Days later, Cheung was arrested and charged with parliamentary contempt. Cheung…
Advertisement The past year has been a difficult one for China’s foreign policy, including still brittle relations with the United States and key allies like Australia and Britain, as well as Beijing’s diplomatic isolation exacerbated by the government’s “zero-COVID” policy. Yet that does not mean that Chinese international initiatives have completely slowed. President Xi Jinping used the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics to jumpstart meetings with numerous visiting foreign leaders. While much attention was focused on the summit between the Chinese leader and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, another…
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has been hit with a damaging cabinet leak revealing he was rolled over a plan to convince renegade MPs opposed to the government’s religious discrimination bill. After a torrid start to the parliamentary year, which saw Morrison’s character come under question after the leaking of a damaging text message, the prime minister has spent the week attempting to corral MPs into supporting the religious discrimination bill. In a story published late on Thursday, The Australian reported Morrison had been rolled in a cabinet meeting on…
In his final practice before skating for the Olympic gold medal, Nathan Chen made sure to take in the moment. He stood alone at the edge of the rink in Beijing on Thursday and looked around at the stands and the arena, and at the Olympic rings at every turn. Unlike at the 2018 Winter Games, when he finished fifth overall, he was soaking in the experience of competing at the Olympics, win or lose. And with that new appreciation, and also a well deserved rush of joy, Chen won.…