Beijing [China], January 24 : As the villages for the Beijing Winter Olympic opened for pre-Games trials on Sunday, a Chinese state media report slammed the US on the issue of the Olympic boycott being staged by several countries over human rights issues in China.
The Winter Olympics is set to begin in less than two weeks, with athletes from several countries traveling to Beijing for the Games.
In an editorial, State media tabloid Global Times said the US government has "tried had to incite" its allies to diplomatically boycott the Beijing Games, but "most of the US allies haven't danced to Washington's tune."
Aiming at Washington, the editorial said, "political maneuvering around the Beijing Winter Olympics will only become a splash of ice under the athletes' feet."
The Chinese Communist Party-run daily said the US itself eventually is sending 46 officials to attend the Beijing 2022 Games. "The diplomatic boycott has completely turned into a farce," it added.
This comes as the COVID-19 situation in Beijing is severe and the capital city has beefed up anti-epidemic measures through wider mass testing and travel restrictions for people in COVID-19 risk areas.
Beijing residents are being asked to get tested for showing symptoms of fever, cough, and others after the city reported nine new local infections on Sunday and registered a total of 43 cases during the past week, said the Chinese publication.
Beijing has already imposed several COVID-19 mitigation measures to tame the spread of the virus next month, such as requiring new arrivals to get tested and halting ticket sales to the general public.
The state media outlet acknowledged the danger posed by the recent spread of COVID-19 cases in Beijing.
"As the Omicron variant spreads across the globe, hindering and even interrupting people-to-people exchanges between countries, the difficulties of hosting a successful Winter Olympic Games are self-evident," the newspaper said.
The Winter Olympics are set to begin on February 4 and run until February 20. Several countries, including the US, have announced diplomatic boycotts of the Games, pointing to rights abuses in China.