On February 4 this year, the Beijing Winter Olympics will begin. Ice and snow athletes from all over the world will gather in Beijing to write their own dream-chasing stories with their hard work and sweat. Beijing will also become the first "Double Olympic City" in history hosting both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.
China attaches great importance to the preparations for the Winter Olympics and is fully prepared. President Xi Jinping stated in this year’s New Year's message that we will wholeheartedly dedicate an Olympic Games to the world.
At present, all 12 competition venues in the three major competition areas of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou have been completed, passed the certification of international winter sports organizations and are ready to be put in full use. The Winter Olympic Village, volunteers, media center, medical rescue, contracted hotels and other service guarantee systems have been fully established. "The world expects China, and China is ready."
China has put forward the concept of "green, shared, open and clean" Olympic hosting, and has fully implemented it in venue construction, event organization and event services to promote sustainable economic, environmental and social development. For example, all 12 competition venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be powered by green and renewable energy, a first in the history of the Olympic Games. Some venues will have basically zero carbon emissions and 85% of the competition vehicles will be clean energy vehicles.
China will make every effort to ensure the safety of the Winter Olympics. In the face of the Novel Corona virus pandemic, especially the threat of the Omicron variant strain, the Chinese government adheres to the people-centered attitude. The pandemic’s prevention and control is at the forefront, in the spirit of being highly responsible for the life and health of participants from all over the world.
A scientific and precise pandemic prevention policy has been formulated. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the International Olympic Committee released the second edition of the pandemic prevention manual. All Olympics-involved individuals are required to be fully vaccinated and a closed-loop management system will be applied throughout the stay of all athletes, officials and other people associated with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Refined prevention and control measures on customs entry, health inspection, and close contact management will also be implemented. We will do our best to create a healthy and safe environment and a good event experience for all participants.
The Beijing Winter Olympics is a grand event for Winter Olympic athletes and ice and snow sports enthusiasts around the world. Sports should not be politicized. Last July, the International Olympic Committee voted to add the resounding slogan of "more together" to the Olympic motto of "faster, higher, stronger". This is highly consistent with the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind as advocated by China.
In December last year, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Olympic Truce Resolution for the Beijing Winter Olympics jointly proposed by 173 countries, showing the firm support of the international community for the Beijing Winter Olympics. In contrast, the manipulation of the Olympic politicization by individual countries and a few politicians is completely contrary to the Olympic spirit and is doomed to be futile.
We are very happy to see that the Philippines will send a delegation to participate in this Winter Olympics, which is rare for a tropical country. More and more Filipinos have come into contact with ice and snow sports and feel its charm. I wish Filipino athletes good results.
The Olympic flame will be lit again in Beijing. As the host, China will wholeheartedly dedicate to the world a wonderful, extraordinary and outstanding Olympic Games by injecting more unity, confidence and strength.
Jia Li
Consul General
People's Republic of China in Cebu