2008 Olympic Torchbearer: “The IOC is fraternizing with authoritarian regimes”
Created: 2022-02-10Updated: 2022-02-10, 7:31 p.m
By: Nico-Marius Schmitz
Was torchbearer in 2008: Kamaltürk Yalqun © Private
At the opening ceremony, China used the Uyghur Dinigeer Yilamujiang for its own propaganda.
Kamaltürk Yalqun was one of the torchbearers at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Now he lives in Boston, his father was arrested.
Munich/Boston – China's cynical act of letting the Uyghur Dinigeer Yilamujiang* light the Olympic flame has rightly caused fierce criticism internationally.
China's use of Uyghurs to cover up human rights violations is nothing new.
At the 2008 games, the then 17-year-old Kamaltürk Yalqun was one of the torchbearers.
But after 2008 everything got worse, Kamaltürk tells our newspaper.
The 31-year-old has lived in America since 2014, and his father was arrested in China in 2016.
Kamaltürk works as a bioanalytical scientist in Boston and fights as a political activist for the rights of the Uighurs.
Mr. Kamaltürk, in 2008 you were one of the torchbearers.
How did that happen?
I took part in the Olympic youth camp, where we had cultural exchanges with young people from all over the world.
I was then selected to present the people from my region.
My family and friends were proud of me for having the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch.
Everyone made a big deal out of it, I was extremely proud of myself too.
Uyghurs have been oppressed in China for decades.
We saw the 2008 Games as an international platform to show the world how we Uyghurs live.
To show the world that Uyghurs exist.
What changed after the 2008 games in China?
Kamaltürk: It's about the existence of the Uyghurs
We were discriminated against even before 2008.
At that time we could still deal with the situation, find ways to live a relatively normal life.
In addition, we in China could of course only read what China drummed into us via the state press.
After 2008, the repression got worse and worse.
Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs are put in camps and tortured.
China has taken complete control of our region.
It wants to eliminate our people.
It's about the existence of the Uyghurs.
My pride that I was allowed to carry the torch is completely extinguished.
What were your thoughts during the opening ceremony when Dinigeer Yilamujiang lit the Olympic flame?
I expected in advance that China would show dancing and singing Uyghurs with happy faces.
China is doing everything it can to whitewash and hide its atrocities from the rest of the world.
But I never thought that China would go so far and give a Uyghur the great honor of lighting the fire.
It was a grand stunt to cover up crimes against humanity.
But of course they didn't want a Uyghur to light the fire alone either.
That's why they put a Chinese athlete at her side so as not to let this moment completely out of her hands.
The Uyghurs are misused as property for Chinese state propaganda.
Dinigeer was just a useful tool for the government.
In the run-up, it was repeatedly said that the Olympics shouldn't be political and that it's only about the sport, but China has used the Olympics for political messages from the very first second.
Political activist attacks IOC for silence
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The IOC should be ashamed to allow such a thing.
The association always emphasizes that it is politically neutral.
Giving the games to countries where human rights are violated and then not taking a stand on it is terrible.
The IOC has forgotten its mission
Olympia should be a stage to celebrate international friendship.
This thought is denied for a long time.
The IOC fraternizing with authoritarian regimes, giving them the opportunity to shine their own propaganda in the world.
China wants to show the world how strong they are.
It is comparable to the Nazi Games in 1936 in Berlin.
In 2008, we thought that the games can be a great chance that China is democratic and the world opens.
It was a hope that was quickly destroyed.
The reality was just the opposite.
China should never have got the games.
China committed genocide.
There is no excuse for the IOC that they simply ignore it.
It is heartbreaking as the IOC deal with the situation and always silent.
Interview: Nico-Marius Schmitz *tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA