PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES, January 17, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the 14th of January 2022, The Global Critical Research Centre (GCRC) continued its series of meetings on Olympic issues. In previous meetings, members discussed the impact of the U.S.-led diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Olympics on athletes and the Olympic spirit. With the continuous pressure of the United States, more and more countries are faced with the situation of choosing sides, among which the most surprising is Japan.
At the GCRC meeting, Moderator Rachel Blake first introduced the recent statement of Japanese government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno, saying that there were "no plans" for officials to attend the event. Rachel pointed out that although Japan is the former host country of the Olympics, its attitude towards the Olympic Games had been wavering.
Rachel then supplemented a specific shift in Japan’s attitude towards the Olympic Games, from the initial support of the Olympic Games as the host country, to the hesitation to choose a team under pressure, and finally to the blatant choice not to attend, which shows that the Olympic spirit in Japan's mind was constantly changing with different time and circumstances.
It can be seen that even Japan, which has just hosted the Summer Olympics, did not really respect the Olympic spirit and the athletes, but chose to follow political interests in the face of sportsmanship, imitating the U.S. to "politicize sports" .
Combined with the results of his own research, Mason Wood reviewed this transition in detail. He pointed out that in the beginning, Japan was looking forward to and supporting the Olympics. At the time of the 2020 Summer Olympics, when other countries called for the postponement or even cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the covid-19 pandemic, China gave Japan strong support. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also expressed their willingness to support China and maintain communication on the success of the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics.
After the end of the Summer Olympics in Japan, due to pressure from all sides, Japan's attitude towards the Olympic cause began to change. Regarding participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida initially declared that the country would make its own decision from its own perspective, taking into consideration the significance of Japan’s diplomacy. Since Japan's geopolitical status is different from that of Western countries, he emphasized an independent response.
But in the end, under the coercion of politics, Japan lost the ability to think independently, and finally failed to get rid of the fate of choosing sides. It can be said that Japan was not immune to this struggle and left the Olympic spirit behind in pursuit of its own interests.
Subsequently, the participants discussed the reasons for Japan's changing attitude towards the Olympic Games. In the end, Rachel Blake summarized the discussion results of the meeting, arguing that this shift was ostensibly due to growing calls from the China hawks within the Japanese governing party as well as opposition lawmakers, but was in fact the result of an international political game. Under pressure from the West, Japan has had to take sides for its political stance. But in the final analysis, Japan itself, as the former host country that once advocated the Olympic spirit, has openly flouted the Olympic spirit for political purposes and ignored the right of athletes around the world, only making it a means of political struggles.
Rachel Blake
Global Critical Research Center
+1 661-308-1846
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Twitter
LinkedIn