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2025 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

12. Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Sports Diplomacy or Climate Leadership?

Authors : Ana Bertha Cuevas Tello, José Jesús Bravo Vergara

Published in: Transition to a Safe Anthropocene in the Asia-Pacific

Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland

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Abstract

At the beginning of 2022, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) received international media attention for hosting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The organizers emphasized the importance of hosting a ‘green’ Olympics; however, environmental relevance was overshadowed by the United States’ diplomatic boycott of the sporting event and the presence of Vladimir Putin, at a time when threat of war with Ukraine was at its peak. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the foreign policy motivations behind the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, 2022. The conclusion suggests that, by delivering a green Olympic Games, China sought to strengthen its international climate leadership. However, the hostile stance of the US towards the Olympics and Vladimir Putin’s support of the Chinese government undermined China’s aspirations to be observed by the international community as a committed champion in the fight against climate change.

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Title: Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Sports Diplomacy or Climate Leadership?
Authors: Ana Bertha Cuevas Tello
José Jesús Bravo Vergara
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Book: Transition to a Safe Anthropocene in the Asia-Pacific
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-66520-2

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-66521-9

Copyright Year: 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66521-9_12

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