Beijing opens high-speed train for Winter Olympics, as calls for boycott grow
Photo credit: The China Project illustration by Derek Zheng
Chinese top leader Xรญ Jรฌnpรญng ไน ่ฟๅนณ opened the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railwayย as part of Chinaโs preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The new line will take passengers from the capital to Zhangjiakou in about an hour at speeds of up to 360 kph (217 mph).
The new train line is a national prestige project, like the Games themselves. But global activists have been calling for a boycott for some time already. After prominent Christian pastor Wรกng Yรญ ็ๆก was sentenced to nine years in prisonย on charges of inciting subversion of state power over the holiday week, and recent revelations about the extent of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, calls for a boycottย of the Games are growing louder.
