Beijing Olympics begins torch relay under shadow of Covid, rights fears

The Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay began its truncated journey to Friday's opening ceremony as China tried to move on from the diplomatic boycotts and Covid fears that have dogged the build-up to the Games.

The sport starts later Wednesday with curling, two days before the official opening of an Olympics overshadowed by controversies ranging from rights concerns to Peng Shuai and warnings about snooping by the Chinese government.

Adopting the catchphrase "Together for a shared future", China, its ruling Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee hope all the rancour will be forgotten once the Games get into full swing.

When Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games, the torch relay took in swathes of China and other countries -- where it met protests in places -- but this time it will last just three days, ending at the "Bird's Nest" stadium for the opening ceremony.

Beijing 2022 official Cai Qi said at the start of the relay -- which will involve more than 1,000 torchbearers and reportedly included former NBA star Yao Ming -- that he hoped the Games would help "dispel the gloom of the pandemic".

If the 2008 Olympics were the country's coming-out party, these Games will take place in a China under President Xi Jinping which is increasingly belligerent on the global stage and boasting the world's second-largest economy.

When Washington said it would stage a diplomatic boycott because of rights concerns -- with Australia, Britain and Canada among those following suit -- China warned the United States would "pay the price".

The Biden administration will not send diplomatic or official representation over what it called China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity" against Muslim Uyghurs in the region of