The Olympics According to Xi

This week, we report on President Xi Jinping and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The last time the Olympics were held there, the Games acted as China’s coming-out party on the world stage, but these Games serve a very different purpose for the world’s most populous country. What image is Xi trying to project? How do the Games tie into his larger political goals? And is he playing in the spirit of the Olympics, or playing to win? In this episode, we speak to professor Kerry Brown of King’s College and our chief Shanghai correspondent CK Tan about Xi, the Olympics, and China’s “zero-COVID” strategy. Click here for an exclusive offer to save 83% on a Nikkei Asia subscription Asia Stream is hosted by Wajahat S. Khan, our digital editor and executive producer, and produced by Monica Hunter-Hart and Jack Stone Truitt. Related to this episode: On thin ice: Winter Olympics reveal cracks in China's zero-COVID policy, by Shin Watanabe China warns Olympic athletes to keep quiet on politics, by Shin Watanabe and Shunsuke Tabeta Beijing Winter Olympics reveal a very different China, by Richard McGregor