Opinion | China successfully heightens the value of Olympic Games

By Edward Hei Leung, LegCo Member

China's Winter Olympics kicked off at the National Stadium last Friday, marking Beijing as the first dual Olympics city in the world. From robot restaurants, zero-gravity bed, AI TV anchor to the reuse of Summer Olympics venues, Winter Olympics not only becomes a sports parade with various displays of latest state-of-the-art technologies, but also echoes with President Xi's idea in which China will do its best to deliver a streamlined, safe and splendid Olympics Game to the world.

To start with, the massive application of robots draws attention across the globe. In order to minimize person-to-person contact, we have got robots, reminding participants to wear masks, handling food and beverage, delivering ordered cuisines from the ceiling, to name but a few.

Besides robots, the zero-gravity bed in Olympic Village Dorms also receives plaudits in comparison with cardboard beds in Tokyo Summer Olympics. US athlete Summer Britcher demonstrated her luxurious remote-controlled bed in TikTok. In fact, the so-called zero-G mode mentioned by Summer Britcher is a kind of smart bed technology that enhances athletes' blood circulation and accelerates after-course recovery. In other words, China's Winter Olympics takes care of athletes' health conditions in a comprehensive way.

Aside from the technological aspect in accommodation, food and beverage, the green concept of Beijing Winter Olympics is another eye-catching feature. Let us trace back the time when International Olympic Committee (IOC) was criticized for abandoning Rio's venues where Aquatics pools got drained and the Olympic Village became a virtual ghost town. Afterwards, the IOC requires every Olympics from 2030 to be carbon-neutral or carbon-negative. Beijing Winter Olympics highlights IOC's green values in terms of hardware and software.

On one hand, the entire Olympic Game incorporates one newly constructed venue called Ice Ribbon, a 12,000-seat arena for speed skating events. Other venues in Summer Olympics are either repurposed or reused, for instance, the Water Cube was transformed into the Ice Cube together with its complicated floor structure built to endure extra weights of the ice and players. The lighting ceremony, on the other hand, turns a new leaf in Olympic history. Zhang Yimou, the chief director behind Beijing's two opening ceremonies, demonstrated a century-new idea that incorporates the lighting of a tiny flame in a large snowflake with 91 smaller snowflakes representing 91 countries and regions participating in the Games. As illustrated by Zhang in Xinhua's documentary, the lighting is to give everyone a new concept that is low carbon-emitting and environmentally friendly.

Despite its so-called diplomatic boycott, the US has sent the second-largest team joining the Winter Olympics in history. As the host, we welcome athletes, regardless of their nation, gender, skin color and even political thoughts. Again, neither diplomatic nor athlete boycott is the solution to human rights and geopolitical issues. From One World, One Dream in 2008 to Together for a Shared Future 2022, China constantly live up to the Olympic slogans that imply faster, higher, stronger, and more importantly together. We hope that others can uphold the principles and values of Olympic games as well.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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