Beijing,
The Beijing Winter Olympics began while opening ceremony kicks off under pandemic restrictions. China is also under high diplomatic boycott and questions over Uighurs.
The “Bird’s Nest” shaped stadium took attention, just alike the past 2008 Games. Beijing becomes the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
The opening ceremony was attended by President Xi Jinping and will declare the Games officially open. The ceremony will also be joined by more than 20 world leaders including Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Earlier the day, two presidents met.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan also presented in the opening ceremony, Federal Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhry was accompanied P.M. while observing the beauty of the Beijing Stadium, P.M. Imran declared the magnificence of it an ‘Another Level’.
The United States, Britain, Canada and Australia are among countries imposing a diplomatic boycott of the Games over China’s, Uyghur, Muslim minority of Xinjiang. Moreover, their athletes will still compete at the Games.
Winter Olympics will run until February 20 and are taking place inside a vast “closed loop” designed to prevent the virus. Tickets were not sold to the general public because of the pandemic.
Limited spectators will be present at the opening ceremony at the 90,000-capacity “Bird’s Nest” but it is unclear how many spectators present in the events at the Games.
The mastermind of the inauguration ceremony is renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who was also behind the 2008 extravaganza. Zhang has promised a “totally innovative” ceremony but conceded that the pandemic and freezing weather will limit its scale compared to the Summer Games. Some 15,000 performers took part in a lavish gala featuring opera singers, acrobats and drummers but this time about 3,000 performers will take part and themes will include “environmental protection and low carbon emission”.
