--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Welcome to Today Explained. I'm Sean Rameswaram.
--:-- Emily Feng: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Today, we're talking about the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Games don't begin until February 4th, but the drama around the pandemic, free speech, and diplomatic boycotts has been building for months. Emily Feng is NPR's Beijing correspondent. Emily, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Emily Feng: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, let's start with the COVID situation. China's been trying to control the epidemic, but with thousands of athletes and journalists coming in, it's going to be a challenge. What's the plan?
--:-- Emily Feng: Yeah, the word of the day in Chinese media is "closed loop." They're going to create these closed loops all around Beijing, where thousands of athletes and officials will be confined to a closed loop. It's like a bubble, where everyone is shut inside, but they can eat, pee, and interact as normal.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That sounds like what we saw in 2020 with the NBA and NHL bubbles. But for an entire Olympic Games? Is that fair?
--:-- Emily Feng: Yeah, these will be bubbles like the world has never seen. Tokyo did something similar with the Summer Olympics, but China is taking it to another level. These bubbles are going to be incredibly tightly sealed, and the risks will be quite high if anyone messes up.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, what happens if an athlete tests positive? Can they still compete?
--:-- Emily Feng: According to the International Olympic Committee Playbook for Athletes and Team Officials, if you test positive, you'll be isolated in a hospital or isolation facility, depending on whether you have symptoms. You may be discharged from isolation once you've gone three days without a fever and tested negative for COVID-19 on two consecutive days.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That's a pretty strict rule. What about close contacts? What happens if someone is a close contact of someone who tests positive?
--:-- Emily Feng: If you're a close contact, you'll have to be quarantined in a single room, eat alone, have your temperature checked twice a day, and test negative for COVID-19 14 times over the course of seven days. You'll be allowed to compete if you test negative six hours before your competition.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That's a lot of rules. And what about the app that athletes and journalists have to download to track their health status and travel logistics?
--:-- Emily Feng: Yeah, the app is not encrypted, and it contains a censorship list of politically sensitive terms and phrases. It's basically a way for the Chinese government to spy on attendees.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: That's a pretty big concern. And what about the locals? Are they excited about the Olympics?
--:-- Emily Feng: Actually, most people I talk to feel pretty comforted by the barriers going up around the closed loops. They've seen lockdowns before, and they know how China deals with close contacts and positive cases. But people are still anxious because there have been several Omicron and Delta cases around the country.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what about the diplomatic boycott? The US and several other countries are boycotting the Games, but not sending high-level officials.
--:-- Emily Feng: Yeah, the US started this, but they've quickly gotten other countries on board. It's a way for countries to make a statement about China's human rights abuses without completely boycotting the Games.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what about the athletes? Are they going to make any kind of statement or take any kind of action during the Games?
--:-- Emily Feng: Yeah, there are already athletes who are voicing support for Uyghurs and other groups that have been systematically targeted in China. China has come out and said that there will be punishment for athletes who make political statements, but it's unclear what that punishment will be.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And finally, do you think any of this is going to have an impact on China's policies in Xinjiang?
--:-- Emily Feng: Unfortunately, probably not. China has said that what's happening in Xinjiang is an internal issue, and they won't be swayed by other countries into changing their policies.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Emily Feng, thanks for joining us today.
--:-- Emily Feng: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Today's episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and hosted by me, Sean Rameswaram.
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