GENEVA, Switzerland — The Chinese architect behind the Beijing stadium that hosted Friday’s Winter Games opening ceremony has mocked the head of the UN health agency, saying China should award him “a gold medal” for not asking tough questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ai Weiwei, arguably China’s best-known dissident, criticized Beijing’s human rights record and its response to the pandemic, in an interview with theAssociated Press on Friday, in which he also targeted the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ai also accused governments of showing too much deference to China for commercial or political interests.
He laughed derisively after hearing that Mr Tedros had posted a photo on Twitter showing him in a red and white ‘Beijing 2022’ winter tracksuit and matching wool cap, as he carried the Olympic flame during the torch relay in China.
” My God! He should get a gold medal from China because he never asked the right question, Ai said in a video chat. Where is his conscience, to this guy? You know, all those people who are supposed to advocate for human health and give the right information, but never ask the right question and (are) always on the propaganda side. »
“They are so ridiculous. »
Under Mr. Tedros, the WHO was harshly criticized by US President Donald Trump’s administration in 2020 for its alleged missteps and excessive deference to China, and its praise for China when the COVID-19 pandemic is first appeared in the city of Wuhan about two years ago.
In his post on Twitter On Friday, Mr. Tedros wrote that his participation in the torch relay fills him with humility.
“The Olympics are a source of hope and I hope this flame brings hope to people around the world that we can end #COVID19 together,” he wrote, while thanking the president of the CIO for the invitation.
Above all, Ai pointed to the Chinese government’s poor human rights record, saying hopes it might have improved since Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games were not satisfied.
“It’s really, really amazing after 14 years of this … we’re looking at the same country, a country (that hasn’t) moved an inch towards better human rights and better conditions of free speech, but instead became very arrogant,” Mr. Ai said.
He added that the Chinese Communist Party government had brainwashed his fellow citizens in his homeland who are “in some way showing their patriotic support for the party”, and noted that any comments deviating from this on social media such as Weibo in China “will disappear”.
Mr Ai also took aim at the International Olympic Committee, saying the Games represent “big business for them”. He said the IOC “has never protected” human rights and is “always defending…everything China does – which is a shame”.
Mr. Ai also did not give a free pass to other countries – those like Russia, which were represented at the highest levels at the Games, but also some Western countries which opted for a diplomatic boycott of the Games or decided to stay away for reasons such as COVID-19 concerns. He criticized them for having double standards.
“They say very softly, ‘We’re not officially participating.’ To me, it’s like a joke, Mr. Ai said. So in the West, the problem is that you can’t find a better strategy, but you use that as evidence to say, “OK, we stand for these principles.” »
“But in reality, they don’t: they operate as usual,” he added. Many countries are hypocritical. »
