Fireworks explode over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to help mark the closing of the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing on Aug. 24, 2008. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics open in just over a week. AP PHOTOTHE 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics showcased China's reemergence on the world stage. In awarding those Games to China, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) predicted the Olympics could improve human rights, and Chinese politicians hinted at the same. Soaring promises are absent this time as the Beijing Winter Olympics open in just over a week in the midst of a two-year-long pandemic.

Source: Manila Times January 25, 2022 16:21 UTC