NBC's Savannah Guthrie is being criticized for falling for Chinese propaganda after she praised President Xi Jinping 's decision ...
NBC's Savannah Guthrie is being criticized for falling for Chinese propaganda after she praised President Xi Jinping's decision to have an Uyghur co-lighting the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony.
During the NBC telecast, Guthrie described the decision as 'provocative' and an 'in- your-face response to Western nations, including the U.S, who have called Chinese treatment of that group genocide and diplomatically boycotted these games.'
The Communist Chinese regime chose Zhao Jiawen and Dinigeer Yilamujiang, an Uyghur athlete, to light the Olympic flame at the Winter Games Opening Ceremony in a blatant propaganda attempt to deflect claims it is guilty of genocide of the Muslim minority.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur cross-country skier from the north west region of Xinjiang, was one of the Chinese athletes to light the flame.
There were just a handful of foreign dignitaries at the ceremony as most Western leaders boycotted over China's human rights record and persecutions of Uighur Muslims in eastern Xinjiang province.
Activists and U.N. rights experts say at least one million Muslims are being detained in camps in the remote western region of Xinjiang, with activists and some Western politicians accusing China of using torture, forced labor and sterilizations.
China denies any human rights abuses in Xinjiang and says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
NBC's Savannah Guthrie called President Xi Jinping's decision to have an Uyghur co-lighting the Olympic flame during the telecast of the Opening Ceremony's in Beijing, China
She called the decision an 'in-your-face response to Western nations, including the U.S, who have called Chinese treatment of that group genocide and diplomatically boycotted these games'
Dinigeer Yilamujiang (right), a Uyghur cross-country skier from the north west region of Xinjiang, was one of the Chinese athletes to light the flame
Most Western leaders boycotted the Winter Olympics over China's human rights record and persecutions of Uighur Muslims in eastern Xinjiang province
Andy Browne, editorial director of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, also appeared to fall for the move.
'This was a riposte to President Joe Biden for skipping these Olympics and a message to the West: China won’t be lectured to on human rights, or on any other issue,' he said of the lighting ceremony.
People on social media were quick to criticize Guthrie for praising the controversial president and promoting his propaganda.
'Doing great, Savannah Guthrie! President Xi thanks you for your service,' Kate Hyde mocked the NBC anchor.
'NBC Hack Turned CCP Shill Savannah Guthrie Regurgitates CCP State Media script on Uighurs LIVE on NBC This is absolutely sick,' Podcaster Benny Johnson tweeted.
'Everything is OK, Hitler let a Jewish athlete light the Olympic flame." Good grief,' Curtis Johnson commented.
Kyle Becker tweeted a photo of a group of Uyghurs in a concentration camp at Guthrie noting: 'Enjoy being a propaganda mouthpiece for the genocidal CCP at the lowest-rated Olympic Games ever.'
'What will you tell your grandchildren when they’ll ask you why you helped cover up a genocide against millions of women and children?' media company Reagan Battalion asked Guthrie.
'“Chosen by Xi Jinping” likely means that if this person didn’t co-light the Olympic flame and yuck it up the person’s family would be tortured, killed, livelihoods would be destroyed, etc.' Rebecca Downs, wed editor of conservative site TownHall.com noted.
Twitter user @WScottGarden posted: 'This is probably the worst moment in national 'journalism' in a very long time....which is saying something because they always have bad moments.'
President Xi Jinping received a minute-long standing ovation as he arrived in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium to watch the Opening Ceremony on Friday
The Communist Chinese regime chose a Uyghur athlete to light the Olympic flame in a blatant propaganda attempt to deflect claims that it is guilty of genocide of the Muslim minority people in the north west Xinjiang region
Xi watched as Taiwan's athletes were forced to enter the stadium under the banner of 'Chinese Taipei'. Taiwan views itself as a separate country, while China views it as a province and is threatening to 'reunify' it by force. Taiwan was going to boycott the games over the name, but was forced by the IOC to attend
Fireworks explode over the Bird Nest stadium in Beijing as the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics comes to a close
Fireworks light up the night sky above the Beijing National Stadium at the Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday
The Chinese national flag flies in the Olympic Stadium as an Olympic Torch placed in the center of a giant snowflake made up of individual flakes bearing the names of competing nations is hoisted in the background
China takes part in the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Soldiers carried the Chinese flag across the stadium before hoisting it up a pole as the national anthem was sung
Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army carried the Chinese flag to be hoisted up a pole during the ceremony
China is aiming to put on a patriotic display, despite global tensions over Taiwan and Ukraine overshadowing the event
Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon (left), Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (centre), and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (right) were among world leaders at the event
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach salutes the crowd during the opening ceremony
Performers take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Young performers display colorful cartoon strips as they take part in the Opening Ceremony, with most of the participants being young people
3,000 performers took part in the slimmed-down ceremony - compared to 15,000 at the 2008 Olympics - with most of them
Dinigeer Yilamujiang, left, and Zhao Jiawen, both Chinese Olympians, light the final flame in the Brid Nest stadium in Beijing as the Games gets underway
Performers take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, at the National Stadium
Another moment of tension came as Taiwan's athletes entered the stadium as 'Chinese Taipei'. Taiwan views itself as a self-governing nation, but Beijing views it as a breakaway province and has threatening to 'reunify' it by force. The team was set to boycott the games over their team name, but were told by organizers they had to attend.
The world leaders were joined in the stands by just a handful of 'select' guests as the event takes place inside a Covid-secure bubble to comply with China's strict zero Covid policy.
Meanwhile Xi Jinping received a standing ovation as he arrived to watch some 3,000 performers take part in the ceremony, which also featured frog-marching People's Liberation Army soldiers hoisting the country's flag as the national anthem played.
Heavy fines and arrests are made on those in China who refuse to wear masks and the obedience is near 100 per cent. One observer said: ‘Putin arrived as if he was the emperor. It was pretty rude of him.’
Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, the man behind the mind-blowing Beijing 2008 opening ceremony, which also took place in the Birds Nest stadium, masterminded today's event.
Tickets for the opening ceremony as well as other Games events were not sold publicly with only those specially invited able to attend due to fears of the spread of Covid, leading to concerns that an absence of euphoric crowds may impact the atmosphere inside stadiums. No international fans are allowed at the Games.
But also missing are government officials from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States and India who are initiating a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics over China's human rights record, particularly over its treatment of the Uighurs.
They are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China, which the UN has claimed have been subject of severe human rights violations at the hands of the state.
China has denied the allegations and warned nations taking part in the boycott that they will 'pay a price' for their 'mistake.' But athletes from those countries will be participating in the Games.
High stakes international politics also featured behind the scenes of today's opening ceremony which was attended by guest of honor, Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
He met his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping ahead of the event taking place to discuss the international crisis unfolding in Ukraine, which according to reports from both countries, has 'brought them together.'
Putin is also using his visit to the Winter Games to meet the leaders of 20 other nations in what is being viewed as a diplomatic push to win them over as tensions in Ukraine continue to simmer.
Despite the heated political backdrop to the Games, it is Covid that is causing the most concern.
Around 60,000 people, including athletes, coaches, officials, federation delegates, volunteers and media personnel, are in China for the Games and are being made to take Covid tests every day of their stay.
Competitions will take place within a 'closed loop' that will allow them to move between accommodation and venues on official transport. They are not allowed to move freely in public.
A snowflake made up of the names of all participating nations and carrying the Olympic flame is hoisted in the Olympic Stadium in Beijing at the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony
Children holding illuminated doves stand around a snowflake containing the final Olympic torch as it is hoisted above the stadium - marking the end of the Opening Ceremony
Team USA athletes enter the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing during the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Team GB takes part in the Athlete's Parade during the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
France's flag bearers Kevin Rolland and Tessa Worley lead the delegation as they enter the stadium
Russia, currently serving an official ban from the Olympics due to state-sponsored doping, is once again competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee
Flag bearers Francesco Friedrich and Claudia Pechstein of Team Germany lead the team during the Opening Ceremony
Performers take part in a slimmed-down Olympic Opening Ceremony that made use of lighting effects projected on the floor of the arena in place of large numbers of performers
Some 3,000 performers took part in the ceremony - mostly teenagers and young people - considerably reduced on the 15,000 which took part in the Beijing Opening Ceremony
Dancers perform during the pre-show ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Costumed performers carrying wreaths take part in the Opening Ceremony in Beijing
The ceremony emphasized themes of togetherness and peace, despite the overriding atmosphere being one of crisis and conflict thanks to threats of war overshadowing the event
Performer's dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Jamaica's Olympic team enters the stadium, as the nation prepares to compete in the bobsleigh event
American Samoa's flag bearer Nathan Crumpton parades during the opening ceremony
China's final Olympic torch bearer enters the Olympic Stadium at the end of the Opening Ceremony
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium in Beijing as the Opening Ceremony comes to an end on Friday night
Fireworks in the shape of the Olympic rings soar into the sky above Beijing's National Stadium
The Olympics - and the opening ceremony - are always an exercise in performance for the host nation, a chance to showcase its culture, define its place in the world, flaunt its best side. That's something China in particular has been consumed with for decades. But at this year's Beijing Games, the gulf between performance and reality will be particularly jarring.
Fourteen years ago, a Beijing opening ceremony that featured massive pyrotechnic displays and thousands of card-flipping performers set a new standard of extravagance to start an Olympics that no host since has matched. It was a fitting start to an event often billed as China's 'coming out.'
But the hope for a more open China that accompanied those first Games has faded.
For Beijing, these Olympics are a confirmation of its status as world player and power. But for many outside China, particularly in the West, they have become a confirmation of the country's increasingly authoritarian turn.
Chinese authorities are crushing pro-democracy activism, tightening their control over Hong Kong, becoming more confrontational with Taiwan and interning Muslim Uyghurs in the far west - a crackdown the U.S. government and others have called genocide.
The pandemic also weighs heavily on this year's Games, just as it did last summer in Tokyo. More than two years after the first COVID-19 cases were identified in China's Hubei province, nearly 6 million human beings have died and hundreds of millions more around the world have been sickened.
The host country itself claims some of the lowest rates of death and illness from the virus, in part because of sweeping lockdowns imposed by the government that were instantly apparent to anyone arriving to compete in or attend the Winter Games.
In the lead-up to the Olympics, China's suppression of dissent was also on display in the controversy surrounding Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. She disappeared from public view last year after accusing a former Communist Party official of sexual assault. Her accusation was quickly scrubbed from the internet, and discussion of it remains heavily censored.
Concerned for her safety, tennis greats and others outside China demanded on social media to know, 'Where is Peng Shuai?' A surreal cat-and-mouse game has since unfolded, with Peng making a brief appearance at a youth tennis event and speaking by video link with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach as part of efforts to allay concerns about her.
While the political issues have overshadowed the run-up, as with any Olympics, attention will shift Saturday - at least partially - from the geopolitical issues of the day to the athletes themselves.
All eyes turn now to whether Alpine skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin, who already owns three Olympic medals, can exceed sky-high expectations. How snowboard sensation Shaun White will cap off his Olympic career - and if the sport's current standard-bearer, Chloe Kim, will wow us again. And just how many medals Russia's figure skaters will run away with - though Nathan Chen and the rest of the Americans put a roadblock in their way Friday at the team competition.
China, meanwhile, is pinning its hopes on Eileen Gu, the 18-year-old, American-born freestyle skier who has chosen to compete for her mother's native country and could win three gold medals.
Artists perform during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games at the National Stadium
Children sing during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on Friday evening
Illuminated doves are carried by performers during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Child performers dressed in traditional dragon costumes pose for the camera ahead of the start of the Opening Ceremony
Children perform in the pre-show during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
A Chinese performer carrying a wreath takes part in the Opening Ceremony in Beijing today
Young performers holding colorful pompoms take part in the Opening Ceremony at Beijing's Bird Nest stadium
Fans take their seats inside the stadium prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing, after a select number were invited
Spectators gather for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Performers dance in formation during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Performers dance in formation during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
China itself has transformed over the years. In 2008, it was an emerging global economic force making its biggest leap yet onto the global stage by hosting those Games. Now it is a fully realized superpower hosting these. Xi, who was the head of the 2008 Olympics, now runs the entire country and has encouraged a personality-driven campaign of adulation.
Gone are the hopeful statements from organizers and Western governments that hosting the Olympics would pressure the ruling Communist Party to clean up what they called its problematic human rights record and to become a more responsible international citizen.
Right from the beginning, the IOC's choice of China was met with criticism from human rights groups, but Beijing was seen as a reliable option - after four European cities, including Oslo and Stockholm, pulled out for political or financial reasons. That left only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Outside the Olympic 'bubble' that separates regular Beijingers from Olympians and their entourages, some expressed enthusiasm and pride at the world coming to their doorstep. Zhang Wenquan, a collector of Olympic memorabilia, showed off his wares Friday while standing next to a 2008 mascot. He was excited, but the excitement was tempered by the virus that has changed so much for so many.
'I think the effect of the fireworks is going to be much better than it in 2008,' he said. 'I really look forward to the opening ceremony. I actually wanted to go to the venue to watch it. I have been trying so hard to watch it at the scene. But because of the epidemic, there may be no chance.'
Fireworks explode over the Olympic rings during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Fireworks are seen exploding over the top of China's National Stadium, otherwise known as the Bird Nest, in Beijing
A huge firework display lights up the night sky during the concluding stages of the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing
Fireworks in the shape of the Olympic rings rise into the sky above performers and a snowflake bearing the last Olympic torch in the concluding moments of the Opening Ceremony
The Olympic flame is hoisted above performers taking part in the Opening Ceremony in Beijing
A close-up view of children bearing lit-up doves during the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Performers dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium
Performers dance during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
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