Hoffman, who retired from competitive skiing after the PyeongChang Games in 2018, says he is concerned by the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the lack of support shown by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC has subsequently reiterated that any form of protest must not take place during competition or medal ceremonies, but the Olympic Committee has said athletes are free to express their opinions during press conferences and interviews.
“I’m scared for athletes who are headed there because athletes are going into a really difficult situation with the restrictions on speech in China,” Hoffman tells CNN Sport.
“Athletes have been warned by the organizing committee that if they violate the laws of China, they will be punished but the laws of China, when it comes to speech, are extremely opaque.
“It’s not clear at all what kind of speech might be deemed illegal.”
Hoffman says the handling of the Peng Shuai case shows just how dangerous it could be for athletes who decide to speak out against China.
Within 30 minutes that post was pulled down, and Chinese censors went to work deleting all traces of her accusation, removing any reference from China’s airwaves.
In fact, when CNN broadcasts the story, China’s sensors change the network broadcast to color bars, forbidding any mention of the story into China.
‘Athletes are being told to get burner phones’
Peng later denied having made the sexual assault claim and the IOC has been forced to defend its handling of the situation after releasing images of video calls with the Chinese tennis star and declaring that she is safe and well.
However, no independent verification of her well-being has been…
Source : cnn
