While some countries have raised humanitarian concerns in regard to the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in China, Russia said those worries are being overblown, even invented.
On Thursday, a government official accused the United States and other countries in the West of "dirty intrigue." Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Tass, a Russian state news agency, that "at this precise moment, instead of using the positive agenda for the sake of giving hope to many people, who are desperate for it, another terrible dirty intrigue regarding the Olympic Games is being concocted."
The United States and other countries have raised concerns about the reported treatment of millions of Uyghur Muslims as well as other ethnic and religious minority groups in the communist country. Several human rights organizations have put together evidence of genocide, forced sterilization and even internment against the far east Asian country.
Back in December, President Joe Biden announced a diplomatic boycott of the games, opting not to send any members of the U.S. government to the games in Beijing. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan have all followed suit and have announced diplomatic boycotts of the games.
Despite these red flags, Zakharova said that there is not anything to be worried about, instead saying that all is fine. "Everything is normal more or less with the Olympic Games organized on the territories of the countries of this bloc's philosophy. Everything is wonderful and there are no problems at all with abuse of human rights, humanitarian issues, and corruption," she said.
Zakharova went on to accuse the United States and others of creating problems out of thin air simply because of the location of the games. "When it goes to the organization of large-scale sports events in countries that are not part of the bloc ring and are not members of the collective West, various issues and questions immediately emerge and they are simply over-exaggerated or made up, or combined by mixing real problems with intentionally mythologized ones," she said.
China, whenever their alleged mistreatment and genocide of the Uyghurs is brought up, has repeatedly denied the accusations. A Chinese spokesperson, in a statement to the Associated Press, referred to his country's repeated human rights violations as "lies and rumors."
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
Earlier this week, NBC—the network that will broadcast the games in the United States—announced that they will not send crews to China. However, NBC stated that their move was due to concerns over COVID-19.
The 2022 Winter Olympics get underway on February 4 in Beijing, China.
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