Mao Zedong
FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping waves during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. The just-concluded Winter Olympics weren’t China's big event of the year, internally, at least. For the Communist Party, that comes this fall at a major meeting that will likely cement Xi Jinping's position as one of the nation's most powerful leaders in its seven decades of Communist rule. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
For Chinese leaders, Olympics weren't 2022's big-ticket item

By Ken Moritsugu Feb. 21, 2022 09:19 PM EST

Residents look at a gigantic red ribbon 2022 Winter Olympics sculpture on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on Jan. 18, 2022. China has thousands of years of doing things in a really big way, reinforcing its perceived place in the world and the political power of its leaders — from emperors to Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping. None of this bigness is new. It goes back to a dozen dynasties that ruled China for thousands of years, a tradition of projecting power that was adopted by the Chinese Communist Party when it came to power in 1949. It could be termed simply: big, bigger and biggest — and then some. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Home of the huge: China has long history of going really big

By Stephen Wade Feb. 10, 2022 12:27 AM EST

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Emboldened China opens Olympics, with lockdown and boycotts

By Sarah Dilorenzo Feb. 04, 2022 04:01 AM EST

FILE - A 1988 photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency shows Communist Party Leader Xi Jinping, right, then secretary of the Ningde Prefecture Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), participates in farm work during his investigation in the countryside. Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi enjoyed a privileged youth as the second son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier and guerrilla commander in the civil war that brought Mao Zedong's communist rebels to power in 1949. At 15, Xi Jinping was sent to rural Shaanxi province in 1969 as part of Mao's campaign to have educated urban young people learn from peasants. (AP Photo/Xinhua, File)
President Xi Jinping, China's 'chairman of everything'

By Joe Mcdonald Feb. 02, 2022 08:22 PM EST

FILE - A woman holds up a ligt candle and a phone showing the image of the 1989 tank man protester during a candle vigil to mark the anniversary of the military crackdown on a pro-democracy student movement in Beijing, outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, Friday, June 4, 2021. As Beijing prepares to hold the Winter Olympics opening in February 2022, China's president and party leader Xi Jinping appears firmly in control. The party has made political stability paramount and says that has been the foundation for the economic growth that has bettered lives and put the nation on a path to becoming a regional if not global power. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
From Tiananmen to Hong Kong, China's crackdowns defy critics

By Ken Moritsugu Jan. 27, 2022 12:20 AM EST

France's Nikola Karabatic makes a shot during the men's gold medal handball match between France and Denmark at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Olympic Latest: France earns gold for 1st volleyball medal

Aug. 06, 2021 07:41 PM EDT

Team Switzerland competes during the track cycling men's team pursuit at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Izu, Japan. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Italy rallies past Denmark for dramatic team pursuit gold

By Dave Skretta Aug. 04, 2021 05:55 AM EDT

United States players kneel prior to their women's soccer match against Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Kashima, Japan. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Mao pins worn by Chinese athletes may test Olympic rules

By Graham Dunbar And Joe Mcdonald Aug. 03, 2021 01:57 AM EDT

Daiki Hashimoto, of Japan, performs on the horizontal bar during the artistic gymnastics men's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Olympics Latest: Women's semifinals set in beach volleyball

Aug. 02, 2021 08:59 PM EDT