{"id":262007,"date":"2024-05-13T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=262007"},"modified":"2024-05-08T07:45:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T06:45:11","slug":"western-media-ignites-war-on-china-in-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/05\/western-media-ignites-war-on-china-in-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Media Ignites War on China in Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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8 May 2024 – <\/em>Western accusations of doping by Chinese swimmers threaten to exacerbate China-US tensions, undermine the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and seriously harm the upcoming Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

The controversy was ignited by investigation reports at the New York Times<\/a> and\u00a0 German TV broadcaster ARD.<\/a>\u00a0 These media outlets suggest there has been a cover-up of a mass doping incident among Chinese top swimmers with connivance of\u00a0 the Chinese Anti Doping Agency (CHINADA) and complicity from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).\u00a0 This story served as red meat to the hyper aggressive leader of the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart.\u00a0 It has prompted western swimming competitors to loudly complain. For example the NY Times reports<\/a> that US team swimmer Paige Madden thinks medals from the Tokyo Olympics should be reallocated. \u201cI feel that Team USA was cheated.\u201d\u00a0 British swimmer James Guy says, \u201cBan them all and never compete again.\u201d What might be considered whining and poor sportsmanship is effectively being encouraged by western media.<\/p>\n

The NYTimes and ARD are the same two media that precipitated the accusations of “state sponsored doping” in Russia. It did enormous damage to thousands of Russian athletes and resulted in different levels of banning starting with the Rio Olympics in 2016.\u00a0 Although widely accepted as “truth” in the West, the claims of widespread Russian doping were weak when evidence was required.\u00a0 Most Russian athletes who challenged their banning were exonerated<\/a>. The major accusers, the Stepanovs and Grigory Rodchenkov, were themselves guilty<\/a> of doping and profiting from doping. Despite this, the banning has continued and escalated after the Russian intervention in Ukraine.\u00a0 The accusations and banning were useful in propelling the “new cold war” and “new McCarthyism”.<\/p>\n

NYT and ARD, and their anonymous informants, may be seeking to do something similar to China.\u00a0 USADA has issued a response <\/a>in which they say China may be engaging in “systematic doping” under a\u00a0 “coordinated doping regime”. On May 6 USADA’s Tygart escalated his attacks<\/a>. He implies the Paris Olympics will be a “train wreck” because of WADA complicity in China’s “cheating”. He hopes the US government will “step in and help lead and fix this.”\u00a0 Surely a recipe for success.<\/p>\n

What Happened <\/strong><\/p>\n

On Jan 1\u00a0 – 3 in 2021, the Chinese swim team was having a domestic swim meet. It was in the midst of covid lockdown.\u00a0 As usual, the team was drug tested but this time a strange thing happened: many swimmers tested positive for a trace amount of the banned medication trimetazadine (TMZ).<\/p>\n

The China Anti Doping Agency (CHINADA) investigated and reported the facts to the World Anti Doping Agency as required.\u00a0 They found:<\/p>\n