Ethnic Uyghur girl lights Beijing Olympic Games cauldron

Users of social media discuss the ethnic Uyghur girl Dinigeer Yilamujiang, who was given the opportunity to light the Olympic cauldron in Beijing.

At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on February 4, 2022, China gave the honor of lighting the Olympic flame to the Uyghur athlete Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Han Chinese skier Zhao Jiawen. The Olympic flame is usually lit by world-renowned athletes, champions and celebrities. China entrusted this mission to the Uyghur female skier participating in the Olympics for the first time.

International organizations and human rights activists called the athlete’s participation in the historic ceremony «a deliberate act by China». According to media reports, the Beijing Olympics come amid claims of oppression of the Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and growing criticism from the West.

The United States, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Japan, and Australia have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics and have refused to send their official delegations to the Games.

The World Uyghur Congress, which raises the issue of persecution of the Muslims in Xinjiang, called China’s decision to choose 20-year-old Dinigeer Yilamujiang a political propaganda.

According to the UN, China has imprisoned about 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims in political camps in Xinjiang. International researchers have found that China subjects the Muslims in Xinjiang to forced labor and regulates their birthrate. China calls its policy «counter-terrorism,» and the camps — «vocational training centers».