The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can't help but remind the world of its repressive, totalitarian nature, even while trying its best to present a kinder, gentler image during the Winter Olympic ceremony in Beijing.
A viral video shows Chinese guards forcibly dragging away Sjoerd den Daas, the Greater China/East Asia correspondent for Dutch public broadcaster NOS, who was standing in front of the National Stadium. Another guard then blocked the NOS TV camera.
According to The Insider, Den Daas initially continued to report, however he was eventually unable to go on as the guard dragged him further away. You can hear Den Daas say: “We are now being pulled out of here. We have just been expelled from another area, so I'm afraid we'll have to come back to you later.”
Another guard then blocked the camera to stop the cameraman from recording.
NOS Tweeted: “Our correspondent [den Daas] was pulled away from the camera by security guards at 12:00 p.m. [6:00 a.m. ET] live in the NOS Journaal.
NOS added: “Unfortunately, this is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China. He is fine and was able to finish his story a few minutes later.”
NOS editor-in-chief Marcel Gelauff described the incident as “a painful illustration” of how foreign press is treated in China.
Meanwhile ADN has reported how American Olympic authorities have urged athletes and visitors to China to use burner phones, laptops and throw away temporary emails to avoid the invasive and pervasive Chinese state surveillance and monitoring.
This warning has been repeated by foreign journalism organizations to its employees. An additional threat reported by ADN includes the Olympic smartphone app required for all Olympic visitors by Chinese authorities. Security experts noted that “this state provided app is a security nightmare that will follow you worldwide long after the games are over.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
I support President Biden in boycotting US political officials from the Olympics, but not the athletes. After all, participation in the Olympics is for winners and achievers, not losers. Making sacrificial lambs of our best athletes to atone for the political sins of international politicians here and abroad makes no sense at all.