By TAKUYA MIYANO/ Staff Write
February 4, 2022 at 18:07 JST
Protesters oppose the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s poor human rights record at a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on Feb. 4. (Takuya Miyano)
Groups opposing human rights abuses by China protested the Beijing Winter Olympics at a rally held in the morning of Feb. 4 in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.
Around 50 people participated in the protest, held in the lead up to the Opening Ceremony later that day in Beijing.
“We protest against the Beijing Olympics staged by the oppressive regime!” they chanted loudly in unison. “We oppose the Beijing Olympics!”
William Lee, 28, who is from Hong Kong, was among those protesting the Winter Games.
“China has robbed people in Hong Kong of their freedom of speech and assembly,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable with the staging of the Olympics in China, where human rights are violated. I want people around the world to pay attention to the human rights abuses in China.”
An organization called the Executive Committee to Protest Beijing’s Human Rights Oppression Olympics organized the rally, and eight organizations, including the Japan Uyghur Association, took part.
When the event started at 11 a.m., one of the participants read out a joint statement that argues China's track record on human rights runs counter to the spirit of the Games.
“We cannot help but view the staging of the Winter Olympics in China, where human rights violations continue, as being against the spirit of the Olympic Charter,” the statement said.
The Olympic Charter espouses the preservation of human dignity.
The organizations' joint statement included five demands, including that the Chinese government “guarantee freedom of speech, expression, religion and association” and that “unless situations surrounding human rights in China noticeably improve, the Japanese government must not be swayed by such expressions as ‘Japan-China friendship.’”
The protest continued in the afternoon that day with a march from Roppongi to Hibiya Park in central Tokyo.
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