Pics: Chinese Communist Party slammed in images projected on Chinese embassy ahead of Beijing Olympics Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong's projection on the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. (Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong/Released)
Just days before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) projected anti-Chinese Communist Party images on the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, NBC studios in the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building in New York City, Nike’s flagship store in NYC, and London’s Tower Bridge.
According to a CFHK press release, the images included references to imprisoned pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, messages calling for freedom in Hong Kong, and the Olympic rings made of barbed wire.
President Xi: We sent you a message in bright lights on your embassy’s walls in #WashingtonDC. We want you to know that the world is watching: It’s time to stop the crackdown on #HongKong & free the 10,000+ arrested on political charges. #FreeHongKong cc:@ChineseEmbinUS @Olympics pic.twitter.com/HEKX2WyJzE
— Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (@thecfhk) February 1, 2022
The group wrote that the images and slogans “highlighted the hypocrisy of China hosting the Winter Olympic Games, which are supposed to promote unity, equality and respect.”
Pretty sure the #PRC apparatchiks inside the Chinese Embassy in #WashingtonDC never imagined they would have artwork by @badiucao on their walls. But here we are.#FreeHongKong cc: @ChineseEmbinUS @Olympics pic.twitter.com/1GkA7z5S27
— Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (@thecfhk) February 1, 2022
“Meanwhile, the Chinese Government is currently committing crimes against humanity and genocide in the region of Xinjiang, enforcing harsh crackdowns on human rights defenders and people perceived to be dissidents in Hong Kong, as well as the systematic repression of ethnic minorities,” the group said in a statement. “The international community must not endorse China’s sportswashing.”
Hey @NBC, we sent you a message at 30 Rock in #NYC. Will @NBCOlympics report on the CCP’s continued crackdown on #HongKongers + #pressfreedom + its appalling #humanrights abuses, or will you just continue silently profiting from Chinese oppression? Cc: @Olympics #FreeHongKong pic.twitter.com/EErqx6YPmT
— Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (@thecfhk) February 1, 2022
This year’s Winter Olympics are marred by the Chinese Communist Party’s systematic suppression of minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Grim reports from witnesses to the abuse have revealed killings, torture, rape, enslavement, forced separation of children from their parents, forced sterilization and abortion, enforced disappearances, and destruction of cultural and religious heritage.
Why not put it in lights? @Olympics sponsor @Nike profits from Chinese oppression. See photo of our projection on the @Nike flagship store in #NYC.#FreeHongKong #Beijing2022 #WinterOlympics #SportsWashing
CC: @EnesFreedom pic.twitter.com/M8CJJEAnaT— Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (@thecfhk) February 2, 2022
The credible reports prompted several nations to institute diplomatic boycotts of the games, including the United States, Denmark, The Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain and Canada.
Free #JimmyLai🍎. https://t.co/wKAR50s36Z
— Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong. 重光團隊 (@Stand_with_HK) February 2, 2022
“As a Committee we will not stop campaigning for Hong Kong and for the international community to stand up to China. We must show them that their behavior is seen and will not be tolerated. Sportswashing has become a tool used to distract onlookers from reputations of the foulest and most abhorrent attacks upon humanity, and China has become the latest to use such tool,” said President of the CFHK, Mark L. Clifford in a statement.
Clifford slammed the International Olympic Committee for “remaining silent on the ongoing human rights abuses that the Chinese Communist Party is committing both at home and abroad.”
“Just as the International Olympic Committee has failed to stand up to China for their behavior, so have the international sponsors of the Games. Household names such as Coca-Cola, AirBnb, Samsung, and Visa who follow their own ESG values and have run equality campaigns are sponsoring what many have labeled as the Genocide Games,” Clifford said. “As the Beijing Winter Olympics start on Friday, the world will be watching China and its actions both during and after.”
