ASIAN GAMES 2022 IN CHINA POSTPONED: ORGANISERS

The Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, scheduled for September have been postponed due to Covid, with new dates to be announced “in the near future,” according to organisers.

The Games were originally planned to take place from September 10 to 25, but have been postponed as China attempts to contain a huge return of diseases in numerous areas of the country.

Hangzhou is fewer than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Shanghai, China’s largest metropolis, which has been shut down for weeks as part of the ruling Communist Party’s zero-tolerance policy to the virus.

The decision to postpone “was taken by all parties after carefully analysing the pandemic scenario and the size of the Games,” according to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

The Asian Games usually attract around 10,000 athletes from all throughout Asia.

The World University Games, which were supposed to start next month in Chengdu but were already postponed from last year, have been pushed back until 2023.

Last month, organisers announced that 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games had been completed in Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people in eastern China.

They said at the time that the event would be staged under a virus control plan that “learns from the successful experience” of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held in a stringent Covid-secure bubble in February.

After Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010, Hangzhou was set to host the continental competition for the third time.

Other provincial cities with activities planned were Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Jinhua.

Kuo Hsing-chun, a gold medalist in weightlifting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were postponed due to the pandemic, told AFP she had already accepted the latest setback.

“With the coronavirus outbreak becoming more serious (in some areas), I was concerned.”

However, other national Olympic committees expressed concern about the impact the delay might have on their athletes.

A delay would be “bad for the athletes,” according to Rajiv Mehta, secretary of the Indian Olympic Association.

“The athlete will be a year older.” Your method has changed.”

The Asian Youth Games, which were due to take place in December in the Chinese city of Shantou but had previously been postponed, would be cancelled, according to the OCA.

‘Fight with tenacity’

Since Covid’s arrival in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, almost all international sport has come to a halt in China.

The Beijing Olympics were an exception, although they were held in a “closed loop,” with everyone within — athletes, officials, volunteers, and media — subjected to daily Covid tests and forbidden from venturing into the city or having contact with the general population.

Even as other countries begin to reopen, China has stuck to its zero-Covid policy, imposing strict lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing programmes.

After a few incidents, Hangzhou tightened viral controls last week, mandating about three-quarters of the population to be tested every 48 hours before using public spaces and transportation.

The actions, according to officials in the city, will ensure that “the virus has nowhere to hide or settle,” which is home to some of China’s largest enterprises, including technology giant Alibaba.

The zero-Covid plan has been hailed by Beijing as proof that it prioritises human life over material interests and can avoid the public health disasters that have afflicted many Western countries.

Despite mounting public protest, top Chinese leaders swore on Thursday to “unwaveringly adhere” to zero-Covid and “resolutely resist” criticism of the policy.