Blackburn: China ‘Unsafe for Our Athletes’ — Why Would We Send Them into this ‘Type of Environment?’

Sunday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) voiced her concern for athletes participating in the Beijing Olympics in 2022 in response to missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.

Shuai’s disappearance followed allegations of sexual assault she made against a senior Chinese Communist Party official.

Blackburn questioned why the U.S. Olympic Committee would send the nation’s athletes to China while it seems “unsafe.”

I think this is standard operating procedure for the Chinese Communist Party,” Blackburn told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “And, Maria, what we have to realize is that the Chinese Communist Party — they are much more aggressive than what the Russians and the communists were when we go back through the Cold War era. But this is something that is continuing as Secretary of State Pompeo had said before he left office, they were committing this genocide against the Uighurs. The Chinese Communist Party has no value for life. If you are not going to toe the line, then they are going to disappear you.”

She continued, “And this is why we think it is unsafe for our athletes to go to the Olympics in Beijing. This is something that seems to be happening … more regularly, so why would the U.S. Olympic Committee send our athletes into this type of environment?”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent