The 16-day Winter Olympics now under way in and near China's capital is "incredibly problematic," as the news site Slate puts it. In addition to a scarcity of fans at events, for Covid safety, Beijing's typically dry winters mean that skiers, boarders and biathlon (skiing and rifle shooting) athletes compete mostly on artificial snow. The largest cloud over the global sports gathering involves its host. "China is a serial human rights abuser led by a dictator," Slate posts. Leaders of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and other countries imposed a diplomatic boycott, avoiding appearances alongside Chinese rulers while still letting athletes participate.

NBC, which paid for the event's U.S. broadcast rights, and other news networks mention Chinese policies as part of Olympics coverage. During opening ceremonies Friday, Savannah Guthrie of NBC said: "Some have said that there's a cloud over these Olympics, that China has come under fire globally because of policies and practices. In fact, the U.S. . . . [is] sending no officials here because of human rights—in particular, China's treatment of the minority Uyghur [pronounced WEE-gurr] population in the Xinjiang region. The U.S. has come right out and called it genocide."

Athletic dramas in 109 events take place apart from that touchy topics. Nearly 2,900 athletes from around the globe are in Beijing. Highlights this week and next include whether Alpine skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin of Colorado will add to her three Olympic medals, how snowboarder Shaun White of will cap his Olympic career and if the sport's current star, Chloe Kim of California, will wow us again. There's also suspense about whether Russia's women will sweep the medals in figure skating. China is rooting for Eileen Gu, 18, an American-born freestyle skier who has chosen to compete for her mother's native country and could win three gold medals. And Hilary Knight of suburban Chicago is competing at age 32 in her fourth Winter Games as the oldest U.S. women's hockey Olympian in history. Events, which also include hockey, skating, bobsled, luge and curling, run through Feb. 19.

U.S. snowboarder says: "This will be my last Olympics. I've given it my all." – Shaun White, 35, at his fifth Olympics

Critic says: "To stage the Games in the midst of China's genocide of Uyghurs and ongoing repression of Tibet and Hong Kong is an atrocity. . . . The display of stomach-turning hypocrisy and state propaganda does not strike me as entertaining." – Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post columnist

Rights activist says: "The spectacle of the Olympics cannot cover up genocide. It's hard to understand why anyone feels it's even possible to celebrate international friendship and 'Olympic values' in Beijing this year." -- Omer Kanat, director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington, D.C.