Foreign news

Xi Jinping urges ‘strict’ COVID-19 prevention measures for 2022 Olympics

Published

4 years ago

January 20, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged strict COVID-19 prevention measures for the 2022 Winter Olympics, following his two-day inspection of the preparatory work for the Games in the two host cities, Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

He also called for replanning and readjusting all work in accordance with new circumstances while focusing on both epidemic prevention and control in the organization of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and expressed confidence that the Games would be a great success in a meeting he presided over in Beijing.

‘Promote winter sports among 300 million people’

The development of winter sports should be promoted, said President Xi, hoping to better promote winter sports among 300 million people, and even more.

The foundation of building a sporting powerhouse lies in mass sports, he said during his visit to the alpine skiing competition venue in Yanqing District, Beijing on Monday.

With the Games approaching, the country is experiencing growing enthusiasm for skiing. In downtown Beijing, local residents could try skiing, the biathlon and floor curling at home thanks to a special event hosted last month.

At the Wednesday meeting, Xi also encouraged ideas for the future use of venues that could help construct a cultural and tourist belt that links Beijing with Zhangjiakou in north China’s Hebei Province.

According to the Olympic Park Management Committee, the Winter Olympic Village – with a total of 25 competition and non-competition venues – is expected to be completed by June.

Tech innovations in venues

During Xi’s Tuesday visit to the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, he learnt about the training equipment featuring high-tech innovations.

The coaching staff reported to the president that an intelligent decision support system is used in training to capture key indicators, including takeoff angle, postures, speed and jump distance. The staff also noted that the wind tunnel lab enables much greater efficiency in training.

Acknowledging their application of technology, Xi emphasized that winter sports can only be developed through technological innovations.

“I believe, through our efforts, we will be able to achieve fruitful results at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games next year,” Xi said.

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with athletes and coaches while visiting the Capital Gymnasium in Haidian District, Beijing, capital of China, January 18, 2021. /Xinhua)

(With input from Xinhua)

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Foreign news

EU Cautiously optimistic on Syria engagement – Official

Published

6 days ago

January 28, 2025

The Gleamer

Irish foreign minister Simon Harris said on Monday that the European Union (EU) “is cautiously optimistic on Syria engagement” but called for more deeper engagement to strengthen relations with the country.

Harris said this at a news conference held at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, the Belgian capital.
“It’s early days, but I think there are signs of optimism. But it is important that we continue to engage.

“I don’t think it would be a good scenario if any other geopolitical actors and forces engage with Syria and for the European Union not to be in a position to intensively engage with them,“ he said.

In her remarks, Ms. Kaja Kallas, the Vice-President of the EU described Syria’s future as fragile but said that the bloc needed to take the right steps.
“But of course, we need to see the right steps as well. Right now, they’re saying all the right words, and they are doing also the right things.

“Therefore, we have this set step-for-step approach, and if they take the steps, then we are willing to take the steps as well,’’ she said.

On the war in Gaza, Harris said President Donald Trump and his team are very much a party to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after the intensive work that was put in.

He conceded that the Trump administration put in a lot of effort to arrive at a ceasefire agreement in the days before his assumption of office for a return to the White House.

“I think that was important and there is no doubt that the intensive work invested by the Trump administration played a very significant role in helping to bring about a ceasefire – a ceasefire that has now seen a cessation of hostilities, the killing, and the bombings.

“Also, that has seen the flow and has seen hostages being released. It’s really important that the ceasefire is in place.

“It is also important, though, to acknowledge in that ceasefire agreement itself, it does talk about people being able to return, and therefore, I think it’s important that we’re consistent in the approach that we take.

“The priority, I think, needs to be on implementing to the letter, the ceasefire agreement.”

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