London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Olympics Games Open With A Bang, And Cold War Echo

Olympics Games Open With A Bang, And Cold War Echo

Triumphant fireworks were launched into the night sky after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the games open. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin unveiled their alliance, proclaiming friendship between their countries with "no limits".

China mixed politics and sport with a boldness unseen since the Cold War on Friday, with President Xi Jinping announcing a new alliance with Russia's Vladimir Putin just hours before presiding over a spectacular Olympics opening ceremony.

Held in the famed Bird's Nest stadium before a crowd thinned out because of COVID-19, the opening ceremony easily cleared the high hurdle of spectacle expected of China. Three thousand performers took to a stage comprised of 11,600 square metres of high-definition LED screens.

Dancers poured into the stadium waving glowing green stalks to mark the first day of spring on the Chinese calendar, followed by an explosion of white and green fireworks that spelled the word "Spring".

Lasers carved imagery from each of the previous 23 Winter Games. The block was then "broken" by ice hockey players, enabling the Olympic rings to emerge, all in white.

During the traditional "parade of nations", competitors from "Hong Kong, China" were met with cheers - as were those from the "Russian Olympic Committee" - the name used by the Russian delegation while the country is officially banned for doping.

Triumphant fireworks were launched into the night sky after Xi declared the games open. But the most consequential pyrotechnics may have come hours before the ceremony, when Xi and Putin unveiled their alliance, proclaiming friendship between their countries with "no limits".

It was a stark reminder that the games were being held on a backdrop of geopolitical rivalry unseen since the tit-for-tat Cold War boycotts of the 1980s, when the United States refused to attend the Olympics in Moscow and the Soviet Union stayed away from Los Angeles.

With tensions on both sides of the Eurasian land mass at their most taut for decades, Putin and Xi publicly took each other's sides over a range of grievances, most notably Ukraine, where the West accuses Putin of preparing for war.

DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT


As in Japan just half a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic imposed severe constraints. With China still sticking to a "zero Covid" policy despite the Omicron variant spreading fast across the globe, organisers decided last month not to sell tickets to Olympic events. A "closed loop" separates competitors and other personnel from the Chinese public.

But talk of war in Europe and escalating rivalry in Asia meant that COVID was hardly the biggest distraction from sport. The United States and other countries have declined to send dignitaries to Beijing, citing alleged human rights abuses, which Beijing denies.

China's role in global sport has also been under a harsh glare in recent months over the case of tennis player Peng Shuai. The women's tennis tour cancelled events in China saying it feared for her safety after she appeared to accuse a senior official of sexual assault. Chinese media have shown Peng making public appearances, including a video phone call last year with International Olympic Committee boss Thomas Bach.

Because of the pandemic, the dignitaries visiting for the Olympics were the first to make official trips to Beijing in more than two years. The guest of honour was clearly Putin.

The Russian leader - who hosted his own winter Olympics in 2014 just days before sending troops to seize Ukraine's Crimean peninsula - thanked Xi for inviting him, adding: "We know firsthand that this is a huge job."

In a joint Russian-Chinese statement, Beijing backed Russia's longstanding call for NATO to halt its expansion - Moscow's central demand in a dispute with Western countries that say they believe Putin is preparing for war in Ukraine.

Russia, which has deployed more than 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian frontier, denies planning to invade but says it could take unspecified military action unless demands are met, including barring Ukraine from ever joining NATO.

Moscow, for its part, said it fully supported Beijing's stance on Taiwan and opposed Taiwanese independence in any form.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×