{"id":1223929,"date":"2022-01-19T08:52:03","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1223929"},"modified":"2022-01-19T08:52:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:52:19","slug":"as-u-s-athletes-face-mounting-dangers-in-beijing-blinken-wastes-time-in-kyiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-u-s-athletes-face-mounting-dangers-in-beijing-blinken-wastes-time-in-kyiv\/","title":{"rendered":"As U.S. Athletes Face Mounting Dangers in Beijing, Blinken Wastes Time in Kyiv"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fas-u-s-athletes-face-mounting-dangers-in-beijing-blinken-wastes-time-in-kyiv%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1223929&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with officials in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, ignoring the mounting dangers facing American athletes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which President Joe Biden refused to boycott.<\/p>\n<p>Beijing officials have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202201\/1246323.shtml\">admitted<\/a> to surging cases of both the omicron and delta variants of Chinese coronavirus, threatening the health of residents in the capital. Technology experts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/01\/18\/mandatory-olympic-athlete-app-gives-china-data-goldmine\/\">warned<\/a> this week that the privacy of athletes and other sports personnel at the Winter Olympics is in significant risk due to the poor security features of a mobile phone application the Chinese Communist Party is forcing all Olympics participants to download; countries have advised athletes to purchase \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/14\/team-usa-urges-athletes-to-use-burner-phones-thwart-chinese-spying-genocide-games\/\">burner<\/a>\u201d phones to take to China and keep their real phones at home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/01\/18\/athletes-warned-steroids-in-meat-at-genocide-games-may-yield-positive-doping-test\/\">warned<\/a> athletes this week that meat consumed in China may yield a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs due to the copious use of steroids on animals there, while Human Rights Watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/18\/human-rights-watch-seminar-advises-athletes-to-stay-silent-in-china-olympics\/\">suggested<\/a> that athletes keep their opinions to themselves in the country about its atrocious human rights record lest they face forced disappearances or formal arrests.<\/p>\n<p>Despite all the threats that American athletes will be facing at the Games \u2013 scheduled to begin on February 4 \u2013 the&nbsp;<em>South China Morning Post<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/diplomacy\/article\/3163850\/china-will-issue-visas-us-olympic-delegation-despite\">reported<\/a> on Wednesday that the White House will be supporting the communist Olympics event by sending 46 diplomats to Beijing. Biden\u2019s administration had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/12\/06\/white-house-confirms-u-s-will-play-chinas-genocide-olympics\/\">promised<\/a> in December that it would engage in a \u201cdiplomatic boycott\u201d of the Olympics. A \u201cdiplomatic boycott\u201d is not a boycott, as diplomats play no meaningful role in the Olympics, but rather the retirement of diplomats from participating in Opening Ceremonies and other prestigious events.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a month after announcing the \u201cdiplomatic boycott,\u201d the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/12\/28\/biden-admin-confirms-sending-officials-to-genocide-games-claims-boycott-stands\/\">confirmed<\/a> that American diplomats would be present at the Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19545058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1237824731.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19545058\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1237824731-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) listens as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy (L) speaks during their meeting at the Bankova, in Kyiv, on January 19, 2022. ( ALEX BRANDON\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Blinken, the nation\u2019s top diplomat, addressed none of these issues while in Kyiv on Wednesday. He was instead there to discuss the alleged threat of a further Russian invasion into the country. Russia colonized Ukraine\u2019s Crimean peninsula while Biden was vice president and has since used unofficial \u201cpro-Russia separatists\u201d to wage war on the nation\u2019s eastern border. Moscow insists the Donbas conflict is a \u201ccivil war,\u201d but the Ukrainian government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2019\/10\/04\/ukraine-reports-41-attacks-russian-proxies-24-hours-during-ceasefire\/\">asserts<\/a> it has extensive evidence of Russian involvement there.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary-antony-j-blinken-to-mission-ukraine-staff\/\">Speaking<\/a> to American diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Blinken asserted that Putin could invade the country \u201con very short notice.\u201d He appeared to acknowledge that many Americans are baffled as to why the State Department has prioritized Ukraine, where no significant changes have occurred on the eastern battlefield for years, over other, more pressing global issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when some of our fellow citizens back home ask us why are we so focused on this, not just now but back in 2014 when Russia went into Crimea and then into the Donbas \u2013 why is this something that the United States has to focus on?\u201d Blinken remarked, \u201cand the answer is this: Of course it goes to the feelings we have for Ukraine, the partnership that so many of you have been building over these years, but it\u2019s also bigger than Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blinken asserted that failing to focus on Ukraine over more important geopolitical issues, and potentially allowing an opening for the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine to expand, would \u201copen a very large Pandora\u2019s box, and the entire world is watching what is happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blinken also met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who published a social media post thanking Blinken for his \u201cpersonal involvement.\u201d&nbsp;Along with Blinken, the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/19\/u-s-lifts-military-aid-to-ukraine-as-russia-issues-security-demands\/\">sent<\/a> Zelensky a $200 million military aid package.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ended negotiations with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecBlinken?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SecBlinken<\/a>. I appreciate personal involvement in the de-escalation of the situation around \ud83c\uddfa. Grateful for \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8&#8217;s political &amp; security support. Count on enhancing economic &amp; financial cooperation. I&#8217;m sure there will be no decision about \ud83c\uddfa without \ud83c\uddfa. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MNGvHqBKE2\">pic.twitter.com\/MNGvHqBKE2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/1483780965868744713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Blinken\u2019s presence in Kyiv follows months of disrespect from the White House towards Zelensky. Zelensky and his administration have repeatedly stated that, while they appreciate military aid, their one top request of the U.S. government is to sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, a German-Russian endeavor that would essentially ice Ukraine out of the fuel industry in Europe and greatly enrich the Putin regime. Biden refused to impose sanctions this summer, a move Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/06\/07\/ukraines-zelensky-unpleasantly-surprised-disappointed-by-biden-pro-putin-policies\/\">said<\/a> he was \u201cunpleasantly surprised\u201d by.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI understand that the relationship between the United States and Germany is very important. I wouldn\u2019t want to intervene between these two esteemed countries. However, how many Ukrainian lives does the relationship between the United States and Germany cost?\u201d an outraged Zelensky asked at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky also requested that Biden meet with him in person before meeting with Putin, a request Biden ignored, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2021\/07\/21\/biden-again-snubs-ukrainian-president-no-july-meeting\/\">repeatedly<\/a> snubbing Zelensky while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/06\/08\/biden-to-make-time-for-turkeys-erdogan-but-not-ukraines-zelensky-before-putin-meeting\/\">meeting<\/a> with anti-American dictators like Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<\/p>\n<p>When Biden finally met with Zelensky at the White House, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/09\/01\/joe-biden-offers-climate-dialogue-in-response-to-ukraine-presidents-russian-pipeline-concerns\/\">harangued<\/a> the Ukrainian president about \u201cclimate dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The State Department has focused significantly more energy towards the relatively static situation in Eastern Ukraine than to the dangers American athletes face in the Beijing Winter Olympics. The potential for athletes to be arrested for acknowledging China\u2019s human rights atrocities is particularly noteworthy given that some have already made political statements that would be criminal in Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I can say is we absolutely acknowledge the horrifying things that we\u2019ve seen happening to the Uyghurs. I read somewhere the other day that it\u2019s the largest number of people held in internment and labor camps since World War II,\u201d American figure skater Timothy LeDuc <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/11\/u-s-olympic-figure-skater-timothy-leduc-condemns-horrifying-human-rights-abuses-by-china\/\">said<\/a> following confirmation of joining the U.S. team this month. \u201cI mean, these are horrifying human rights abuses that we\u2019re seeing happening. And it can feel very powerless when you read those things, because you think, \u2018What can I do?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There&#8217;s a reason why the world is uniting to boycott the Communist Chinese Genocide Olympics. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cUBW8wl5Vn\">https:\/\/t.co\/cUBW8wl5Vn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1432821109980815366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>China is currently engaged in what both the Biden administration and that of predecessor Donald Trump have deemed a genocide against the Uyghur people of East Turkistan, forcing millions into concentration camps and sterilizing entire villages of women to prevent the Uyghur population from growing.<\/p>\n<p>As America\u2019s first openly non-binary Olympian, LeDuc would have faced potential political repercussions in China for that identity on its own, as China recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/entertainment\/2021\/09\/02\/male-girlie-behavior-banned-china-crackdown-kicks-sissy-men-off-tv\/\">declared<\/a> war on what it deemed \u201csissy men and other abnormal esthetics,\u201d banning them from television. It is unclear if Chinese broadcasters will carry LeDuc\u2019s performance at the Games.<\/p>\n<p>Another American athlete, snowboarder Shaun White, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/01\/10\/u-s-olympian-shaun-white-poses-tibetan-flag-weeks-before-beijing-genocide-olympics\/\">posed<\/a> with a human rights activist holding a Tibetan flag; possession of the Tibetan flag is a crime in China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s really not much protection that we believe is going to be afforded to athletes \u2026 So we\u2019re advising athletes not to speak up,\u201d Rob Koehler, the director-general of Global Athlete, an advocacy group for \u201cpositive progress,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/18\/human-rights-watch-seminar-advises-athletes-to-stay-silent-in-china-olympics\/\">said<\/a> this week. \u201cWe want them to compete and use their voice when they get home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Global Athlete has condemned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for jeopardizing the safety of athletes by insisting on granting Beijing the honor of hosting the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition to the stress of Covid-19 [Chinese coronavirus], the IOC awarded the Games to China, a country recognized internationally for its human rights violations,\u201d a Global Athlete <a href=\"https:\/\/globalathlete.org\/our-word\/the-ioc-is-failing-athletes-rights\">statement<\/a> this month read. \u201cThis unfairly makes athletes pawns in a geopolitical fight. The IOC is to blame for putting athletes in this position; no athlete can be faulted for their choice to attend or not attend the Games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642505258913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0__vJfgnkVvABX5lFlOsWH\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642505258914000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2a4CpGkSU9bSEOSqqxDhjq\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with officials in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, ignoring the mounting dangers facing American athletes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which President Joe Biden &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1223929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1223929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1223929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1223929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1223929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}