According to experts, the woke Olympic athletes who have all of a sudden been so silent in the face of real Chinese human rights abuses will likely remain silent after the games for fear of ruining their big-dollar endorsement deals sponsored by the Communist Party.
Human rights experts have no illusions that many of these athletes who have been silent about China’s human rights outrages won’t speak up even after the Olympics because of all the money flowing their way, Fox Business Network reported.
“For example, Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Allianz, Coca Cola, Samsung and more are all sponsors of Team USA and all conduct business in China. The companies are also part of the Olympic Partner Program, which is the ‘highest level of Olympic partnership,'” FBN noted.
This photograph, taken on December 11, 2021, shows a placard at the entrance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters during a demonstration of Tibetan activists from the Students for a Free Tibet association ahead of the February’s Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Lausanne. (Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD/AFP via Getty Images)
Once the games are over, athletes endorsed by these big corporations will stay loathe to speak out about China’s outrages, says Teng Biao, a human rights activist based in Chicago.
“The Chinese government actually frequently uses economic coercion to achieve their political goals,” Biao said during an interview with Fox News Digital. Biao added that athletes will be put in the “position to choose between principle and the profit.”
He also noted that China is using the games as a “propaganda tool” and does not expect athletes to maintain any “moral responsibility” after the games.
Yaqiu Wang, a senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch, agreed.
“The Chinese government has been leveraging the economic side of things, market access to pressure companies to toe party lines,” Wang told Fox. “If you want your economic interests to be protected, you want to stay away from criticizing the government.”
BEIJING, CHINA – FEBRUARY 04: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L), International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach (2nd L), China’s President Xi Jinping (C), and his wife his wife Peng Liyuan stand for the national anthem of China during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04, 2022, in Beijing, China. (Photo by Anthony Wallace – Pool/Getty Images)
Wang was also discouraged that many world leaders sit by and turn a blind eye to China’s abuses.
“There are also a lot of, you know, government leaders, world leaders, including the head of the [United Nations], delivering a speech during the opening ceremony,” Wang said. “It’s a way to show that, you know, all these national dignitaries are coming here to congratulate the opening of the games. Of course, it’s using the game to legitimize its policies. There’s no doubt about that.”
The international games have been used as a platform to protest supposed human rights abuses for decades, though most protests have been aimed at the United States in recent decades.
As Breitbart Sports recently noted, Olympic athletes have wasted no time protesting against the United States. From as far back as the 1960s when U.S. athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raised a militant, anti-American, black power fist during the playing of the national anthem at the 1968 games in Mexico City.
Just in the last few years, outspoken athletes, including U.S. shot putter Raven Saunders and hammer thrower Gwen Berry, were bold enough to attack the U.S. while accepting medals or vowing to make such protests should they be lucky enough to win a medal. They have had no fear of losing endorsement deals over such behavior, either.
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