The three-day Olympic torch relay for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which was shortened due to coronavirus concerns, began on Wednesday, with basketball great Yao Ming and a Chinese soldier wounded in a bloody 2020 border clash with India among them carrying the symbolic flame.
The soldier identified as Qi Fabao, is reportedly a regimental commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and was grievously wounded during the 2020 border skirmish with Indian troops in the Galwan Valley.
According to China’s Global Times, China’s four-time Olympic short track speed skating champion Wang Meng handed the torch to Fabao after the relay opened at the Olympic Foreign Park.
The torch will be carried through the three Olympics zones, starting with downtown Beijing before heading to Yanqing district and finally Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province.
The scaled-down torch relay is a far cry from 2008, when Beijing sent the Olympic flame on a global journey ahead of hosting that year’s Summer Games. The relay drew protesters against China’s human rights violations and policies in Tibet, Xinjiang and elsewhere, leading to violent confrontations and the cancellation of some overseas stages.
The Winter Games have also been marred by political controversies, alongside medical considerations.
Six weeks ago, the United States, Britain and several allies said they would not send dignitaries to attend the Beijing Games as a protest against human rights abuses by the Communist Party regime.
Athletes have been threatened by the organizing committee with “certain punishments” for saying or doing anything that would offend their Chinese hosts, while several delegations urged anyone headed to Beijing to take “burner” phones instead of their personal devices because of concerns their personal information could be compromised.
