The Uighur skier who carried the Olympic torch in Beijing on Friday denied that China was carrying out genocide against her community in the Xinjiang region and accused Western countries of “spreading rumours”.
China put the issue of the Uighur minority in the spotlight when it chose cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang as the last bearer of the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games.
China is accused of violating the most basic rights of this Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region (northwest), where, according to several Western countries and many activists, more than a million Uighurs were sent to “re-education camps”; women, sterilized; and forced labor is being used.
Yilamujiang avoided questions from the press during the competition, in which he finished 43rd in the cross-country category. This Friday, however, the Chinese newspaper Global Times published an exclusive interview with the athlete.
“If there was what Western countries call ‘genocide’, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to the Olympics,” Yilamujiang told the newspaper.
“Choosing me as one of the Olympic flame bearers shows the truth about the harmony of the great Chinese family,” adds the 20-year-old athlete.
According to the newspaper, the skier assured that the “irresponsible information” from the western media has affected her “profoundly”, as well as her teammates, and urged them to “stop spreading rumors that denigrate and disrespect”.
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