In 2001, Chinese people erupted in euphoric cheers and feverish celebration across the country when the International Olympic Committee announced Beijing had won the bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In contrast, Beijing’s victory over Almaty, Kazakhstan, last Friday for the 2022 Winter Olympics has received only a tepid reaction in the mainland. It’s not surprising, since Beijing citizens generally have little interest in winter sports. And for many people, the 2008 Games were expensive and bothersome, with extravagant spending on stadiums and city-wide driving bans to cut air pollution.
When China won the Summer Olympics bid over a decade ago, the international community hoped it would serve as an impetus for the Chinese regime to improve it’s appalling human rights record; instead, it became a silent validation of China’s crackdown on dissent and on negative press in the months leading up to and during the Chinese Summer Olympics.
To have Beijing host the 2022 Winter Olympics is a bad idea, and here are five reasons why.
1. A Lack of Real Snow
