House China Panel Asks Feds to Probe Doping in Chinese Olympic Swim Team

An underwater view shows China's Li Bingjie in a heat for the women's 400m freestyle swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. (François-Xavier Marit/AFP via Getty Images)

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the Chinese regime for allegedly covering up positive doping tests of China’s Olympic swim team.

The probe comes ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris, which will be held between July 26 and Aug. 11.

In a May 21 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the committee’s chairman and ranking member, Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), respectively, and Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and André Carson (D-Ind.) asked the FBI and DOJ to “use its exterritorial jurisdiction to investigate individuals involved in doping schemes at international sports competitions that involve U.S. athletes as outlined in the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (RADA).”

The letter noted media reports of China giving the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) more than $2 million more than the required annual contribution to the organization that is supposed to ensure there are no illegal substances in Olympic athletes that would give them an unfair advantage.

WADA has not punished the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for doping and depended on a Chinese investigation into the matter. China said that the positive tests were due to contamination, including in spice containers, in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers stayed ahead of a January 2021 meet in Tokyo. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has said the explanation “does not pass the smell test.” The Biden administration has called for an independent investigation into the swimmers.

“This scandal raises serious legal, ethical, and competitive concerns and may constitute a broader state-sponsored strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to unfairly compete at the Olympic Games in ways Russia has previously done,” wrote the members of Congress.

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“It is imperative to assess whether these alleged doping practices were state-sponsored, which could warrant further diplomatic measures by the United States and the international community,” they added.

The signees requested Mr. Garland and Mr. Wray brief them by June 5 about the Chinese doping controversy and the alleged cover-up by China and international organizations.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the DOJ and FBI for comment about the letter.

In a May 21 letter addressed to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, the members of Congress who also signed the letter to Mr. Garland and Mr. Wray called on the organization behind the Olympics to take “swift, decisive, and fully transparent action to address” the Chinese doping scandal and its alleged cover-up.

They lamented that “when the anti-doping system is compromised, clean athletes bear the consequences and their years of dedication and hard work are overshadowed by the specter of doping allegations.”

The members of Congress warned that “how the IOC responds to this scandal will directly affect this summer’s Olympic games and their promise of fair play that unites athletes from around the globe.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the IOC for comment on the letter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.