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Marcel Grzanna

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 8th, 2022

Dinigeer Yilamujiang – the unknown star

Shortly after her first Olympic event, Dinigeer Yilamujiang broke the organizers’ strict protocol. Against her obligation, she did not show up in the so-called mixed zone. Journalists from all over the world wait there to get a chance to ask the athletes for an interview. Those who don’t wish to talk to reporters don’t have […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 8th, 2022

Peng Shuai: a tentative end to a bleak tale

For the time being, the last chapter in the dark tale of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has been written. Not by her personally, but by Wang Kan, the chief of staff of the Chinese Olympic Committee. Wang had taken on the role of translator when Peng met with journalists from the French sports newspaper […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 4th, 2022

Olympic opening: unprecedented wave of disapproval

More than a dozen of the world’s leading industrialized and democratic governments have decided not to send government officials or diplomats to Beijing. Some of them are officially calling it a boycott. Others, including the Federal Republic of Germany, avoid the term but will still be absent from the Olympics. More than 250 international non-governmental […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 3rd, 2022

04.02.2022_Editorial_HR

no, Beijing is certainly not the right place to represent Olympic values. But who cares about that in the IOC, the “prostitute of regimes,” as CDU human rights politician Michael Brand tells us in an interview? The Winter Games, which officially open today in the Chinese capital, may meet with as much rejection as they […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 3rd, 2022

RSF: no cooperation with Chinese state media

During the Olympic Games, which officially begin tomorrow, numerous TV stations around the world will inevitably have to rely on pre-produced footage from Chinese state television. Covid regulations for journalists massively restrict their freedom of movement. Media coverage is very difficult under these conditions. That is why the non-governmental organization “Reporters without Borders” (RSF) has […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 2nd, 2022

‘I was just a cog in the wheel’

Mr. Renn, is the construction of a ski jump in the Chinese province one of the last great adventures of our time?There is some truth to that. But as is the case with many adventures, they are extremely exciting at first, but after a while everything becomes normal. In the end, it’s a task that […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: February 1st, 2022

Escape plans for critical reporters

The Chinese government continues to aggressively intervene in the reporting of foreign media. To prevent critical reports, international newspapers or local television stations are more and more threatened with legal action. In its 2021 annual report, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in China, FCCC, expresses concern about “the breakneck speed by which media freedom is declining […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: January 28th, 2022

Qinghai bans religious group chats

Authorities in the Chinese northwestern province of Qinghai have announced a ban on group chats with a religious background. Digital communication via social media is punishable from March 1, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA). Tibetan Buddhists are particularly affected by this regulation. Qinghai is one of the largest Tibetan settlement areas outside Tibet. About 1.2 […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: January 27th, 2022

28.01.2022_Editorial_HR_

Governments like to keep the idea of human rights crimes in the abstract. And there they remain until someone tells us about them in detail. Only then do we really realize what it actually means when a person’s universal basic rights and dignity are broken by government institutions. The precise images in our minds ensure […]

Marcel Grzanna Published: January 27th, 2022

Athletes turn their backs on IOC head

IOC President Thomas Bach had actually scheduled a lunch meeting with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai in Beijing in January. The sports world is deeply concerned about the whereabouts of the world-class athlete after she accused a top Communist Party cadre of sexual assault and has since only appeared in public under mysterious circumstances. So […]