Xi Jinping
FILE - Gold medalist China's Eileen Gu celebrates during a medal ceremony for the women's freestyle skiing halfpipe competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. Gu, the California-born athlete who won two gold medals for China in freestyle skiing at the recent Beijing Olympics, has signed on to work for Salt Lake City's bid for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympics.(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Chinese Olympian Eileen Gu working for Salt Lake Games bid

By Stephen Wade Jun. 08, 2022 01:52 AM EDT

FILE - Traditional dancers perform during the unveiling of the logo of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sept. 9, 2015. Less than three months after Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, reports in China on Friday, May 6, 2022 said this year's Asian Games are being postponed because of concerns over the spreading omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)
Asian Games in China postponed because of spread of COVID-19

By Stephen Wade May. 06, 2022 02:51 AM EDT

FILE - From left to right, Dr. Joseph Goebbels, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Reichs Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten and General Field Marschall Werner von Blomberg observe the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany in August 1936. The International Olympic Committee has always been political, from the sheikhs and royals in its membership to a seat at the United Nations to pushing for peace talks between the Koreas. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago exposed its irreconcilable claims of “political neutrality.” (AP Photo, File)
Russia invasion upends Olympic 'neutrality' — if it existed

By Stephen Wade Mar. 15, 2022 12:07 AM EDT

Fireworks ignite during the closing ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Paralympics close to end Asia's run at center of world sport

Mar. 13, 2022 07:28 AM EDT

Maksym Yarovyi of Ukraine carries the flag as the team makes their entrance during the opening ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Friday, March 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
As war rages, Paralympics open in Beijing without Russia

By Ken Moritsugu Mar. 04, 2022 12:52 AM EST

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

An Olympic shuttle bus approaches the main media center at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Analysis: China's bubble Olympics kept reality at a distance

By Ted Anthony Feb. 21, 2022 12:32 AM EST

FILE - The Olympic flame burning in the center of the snowflake-shaped cauldron is on display near the National Stadium during the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
After Beijing bubble bursts, can the IOC save the Olympics?

By Eddie Pells Feb. 20, 2022 04:35 AM EST

Flag bearers march into the stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Beijing's Olympics close, ending safe but odd global moment

By Ted Anthony Feb. 20, 2022 02:50 AM EST

A police officer stands guard by the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)
BEIJING SNAPSHOT: N. Korea not at Games but diplomat remains

By Dake Kang Feb. 17, 2022 05:28 AM EST

Volunteers clear snow from the bus terminal at the Zhangiiakou Media Center during the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
At Winter Olympics, virus fight waged with worker sacrifices

By John Leicester Feb. 13, 2022 07:10 PM EST

The main entrance of the Tibet Hotel is seen behind a police vehicle parked outside the hotel at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Beijing. People attending the Beijing Winter Olympics can't visit Tibet because they're in China's "closed loop" system for foreign visitors. But some visitors, including part of the Associated Press' Olympics team, are getting a taste of the region because they've been assigned to the Tibet Hotel. The hotel has been built and outfitted to evoke the remote region on China's western edge. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
BEIJING DIARY: A taste of Tibet with Chinese characteristics

By Kelvin Chan Feb. 11, 2022 07:52 PM EST

In this frame from video, Vladyslav Heraskevych, of Ukraine, holds a sign that reads "No War in Ukraine" after finishing a run at the men's skeleton competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (NBC via AP)
Olympian flashes 'No War in Ukraine' sign after competing

By Tim Reynolds Feb. 11, 2022 08:28 AM 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

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, signs his name during the Olympic Truce Mural ceremony at the Olympic Village ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in Beijing. (Wang Zhao/Pool Photo via AP)
EXPLAINER: What in the world is the Olympic Truce?

By Mallika Sen Feb. 08, 2022 10:10 AM EST

FILE - Interpol President, Meng Hongwei, walks toward the stage to deliver his opening address at the Interpol World Congress in Singapore, July 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
Peng Shuai saga hews to familiar script in China

By Sarah Dilorenzo Feb. 07, 2022 06:07 AM EST

FILE - China's Peng Shuai serves to Japan's Nao Hibino during their first round singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2020. The whereabout of Peng remains a pressing question at the Beijing Olympics. Peng’s accusations of sexual assault months ago against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, once a member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, were scrubbed almost immediately from the internet in China. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)
Peng Shuai emerges at Olympics, gives controlled interview

By John Leicester Feb. 06, 2022 10:55 PM EST

China's athletes Dinigeer Yilamujian and Zhao Jiawen wave before lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
What message did China send by choosing Uyghur torchbearer?

By John Leicester Feb. 05, 2022 03:09 AM EST

FILE - South Korean President Moon Jae-in, front left, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister Kim Yo Jong during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018. North Korea basked in the global limelight during the last Winter Games in South Korea, with hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and officials pushing hard to woo their South Korean and U.S. rivals in a now-stalled bid for diplomacy. Four years later, as the 2022 Winter Olympics come to its main ally and neighbor China, North Korea isn't sending any athletes and officials because of coronavirus fears. (Kim Ju-sung/Yonhap via AP, File)
'Someone else's festival': No North Korea at ally's Olympics

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 04, 2022 11:29 PM EST

The Chinese national flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
In Beijing, Olympic ideals coexist with authoritarian rule

By Tim Sullivan Feb. 04, 2022 11:26 PM EST