As the 2020 Beijing Winter Olympics approaches, people are gearing up to see the best athletes from around the world represent their country. As devoted fans and casual viewers prepare to see the human body challenged in different ways, some lawmakers are reminding that there is more at stake than just a gold medal.
This week, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R) directed a letter to NBC Universal CEO Stephen Burke and NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel.
In the letter, they ask both Zenkel and Burke to join them in demanding the International Olympic Committee to strip China from hosting the games. If not, then they ask that NBC refuse to air the games at all.
Both lawmakers cite the numerous human rights violates that China is guilty of, especially the Muslim Uyghurs and the oppression that the pro-democracy Hong Kong protestors have faced.
They write, “Communist China is one of the great human rights abusers in the world, and it presents a threat to the safety and security of every athlete and tourist who will travel to Beijing.”
The lawmakers added, “documents obtained by the New York Times revealed the lengths to which Communist China uses this technology to track and oppress Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic group in the province of Xianjing… And they confirmed, as had previously been reported, that more than a million Uyghurs are in prison and ‘re-education camps,’ simply because of their religion.”
NBC Universal has not responded to the letter.
