Chinese envoy to UN calls for upholding Olympic spirit

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday urged countries to uphold the Olympic spirit and promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation through sport.

"Together, let's look forward to the rekindling of the Olympic flame and the highlights of our athletes. Let's join hands to uphold the Olympic spirit, to ignite the flame of hope for humanity, and to embrace a brighter future," the ambassador said in his remarks on the adoption of the Beijing Winter Olympic Truce Resolution by the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted the Olympic Truce Resolution for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. It was the second time that the Chinese representative introduced a truce resolution at the UN General Assembly since 2007.

The draft resolution focuses on the Olympic Truce spirit, and recognizes the role of sport as a tool in building global resilience to address the COVID-19 impacts, Zhang said.

Noting that China has always been committed to peace, to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and to true multilateralism, the ambassador said that China has participated in-depth and supported the cause of the UN and contributed to world peace and development.

The ambassador noted that the realization of Olympic Truce calls for political will, but more importantly, concrete actions. Under the theme of "to create a harmonious world of better mutual understanding," the truce work for the Beijing Winter Olympics involves promoting the Olympic Truce concept and Olympic knowledge throughout the society, and releasing introductory materials such as public reading books and online videos.

"The Olympic Charter affirmed the principle of political neutrality of sports. We will join hands with people around the world to reject all wrongful words and actions that are contrary to the Olympic spirit and detrimental to the development of the Olympic movement," said the ambassador.

"We call on all countries to take the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity to resolve differences with dialogue, replace confrontation with cooperation, enhance mutual understanding and maintain world peace and development," Zhang said.

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games will take place in Beijing on Feb. 4-20, 2022, and the Beijing Paralympics will be held on March 4-13.

According to the ambassador, during the Winter Olympic Games, the truce mural entitled "Light of Peace" will be set up in the Beijing Winter Olympic Village to show support for the concept of peace and truce.

The ancient Greek tradition of the "Ekecheiria," or "Olympic Truce," was born in the eighth century B.C., serving as a hallowed principle of the Olympic Games. In 1992, the International Olympic Committee renewed this tradition by calling upon all nations to observe the truce.