Organizers defend China's stance on Uyghers, Taiwan as Beijing Olympics get political

For two weeks and more, China's stance on questions about its politics and policies has been straightforward: It's the Olympics, and we're not talking about these things.

That changed Thursday at the Beijing organizing committee's last regularly scheduled daily news conference, three days before the end of the Games. The persistent and polite refusal to answer such questions gave way to the usual state of affairs at news conferences with Chinese officials — emphatic, calibrated answers about the country's most sensitive situations.

Taiwan? An indivisible part of China. The Uyghur population of the Xinjiang region? Not being pushed into forced labour. China's sovereignty? Completely unassailable under international norms.

"What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world," organizing committee spokeswoman Yan Jiarong said, calling it "a solemn position" for China. She referred to other assertions about China's treatment of Uyghurs and living conditions in the northwestern region of Xinjiang as "based on lies."

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It was only a matter of time before these topics burst at the seams. The run-up to the Games was overshadowed by a diplomatic boycott led by the United States, which centered on China's human rights record; China was determined to keep the focus only on sports but is also very committed to vigorously defending its stances publicly.

In the final regularly scheduled briefing before the Games close on Sunday, Yan and IOC spokesman Mark Adams were peppered with questions about Taiwan, Xinjiang, and the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

Following up on a question about Taiwan's reported attempt to skip the