2022 Winter Olympics: Disrupting the Games

Enes Kanter Freedom from the Boston Celtics, Joey Siu, an outspoken Hong Kong activist and Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-08) joined us for a critical examination of China’s human rights violations happening in the Winter Olympics’ backyard. Josh Rogin from the Washington Post moderated the discussion, which highlighted how everyone can become an ally of the Uyghur community and pressure China now and beyond the Olympic games.


All panelists have been outspoken critics of China’s genocide of the Uyghur community and the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive regime. Enes Kanter Freedom has publicly called on American Olympians to boycott this year’s Winter Games and has repeatedly pressured prominent corporation, Nike, to speak out on the genocide. Joey Siu, an exiled Hong Kong activist, led the push for the Biden Administration to announce a diplomatic boycott, which she argued was the first step in holding China accountable at the Winter Games. Rep. Mike Gallagher has been busy in Congress and a year ago, led the international effort with nine other countries to pressure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move the Winter Games from Beijing. When Chinese Olympian, Peng Shuai, went missing, Rep. Gallagher also introduced legislation that would sanction senior members of the IOC for being complicit, and called on the Biden Administration to take a stand as well. Josh Rogin has written numerous op-eds for the Washington Post that highlight the ongoing human rights atrocities China has been committing. Most recently his articles focus on the controversy of the Winter Games, and what athletes and lawmakers can do to protest.


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