Canada’s Chinese community celebrates Winter Games in Beijing amid pride, qualms

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This article was published 03/02/2022 (1337 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Longtime Olympics fan Malinda Lee is experiencing the best of both worlds this year, as a Team Canada fan and someone who has always been proud of her Chinese heritage.

Watching the Winter Gamesas a family has been a beloved tradition, and this year will be extra special with the spectacle of athletic prowess returning to Beijing.

“It’s very exciting, Beijing is steeped in so much history, and my parents love their homeland,” says Lee, a public relations consultant in Winnipeg.

But as much as her family loves cheering on their international favourites, she adds, “Growing up, my sisters and I would watch the Olympics with our dad, and we cheered for Team Canada. One of my clearest childhood Olympic memories is my dad singing along to ‘O Canada’ whenever it played over the podium like he was right there.”

“The kids found it odd, but I get it now. It’s pride.”

Of course, this edition of the Winter Games is unfolding under extraordinary circumstances. Due to COVID-19, organizers and government officials have imposed strict policies that ban most in-person spectators and bar locals from greeting the Olympic stars.It’s not only altered the energy around the event itself, but threatens to deplete interest among fans who might otherwise watch from home.

Recentsocial media chatter appears just as likely to revolve around reasons many would-be viewers have vowed to tune out this year — either in protest or due to simple ambivalence.

Politically, tensions remain high between both countries since the recent release of detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and with China’s ongoing human rights violations against the largely Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

In December, Canada, along with the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Denmark, announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, with government officials refusing to attend.

According to an Angus Reid survey, just over half of Canadians asked supported this decision.

Qualms about celebrating the Beijing Olympicspersist throughout the Chinese community, says Teresa Woo-Paw, chair of the Canadian Race Relation Foundation, the Asian Heritage Foundation and the ACCT Foundation.

“A lot of people are looking forward to this big event with mixed feelings, and I think perhaps with hope that there will be a better time in terms of the relationship between (China and Canada),” she says.

Still, Woo-Paw adds, Canada’s long-standing Chinese community is keen to celebrate their roots.

“I came 50 years ago,” she says. “(The community) is ever-evolving, especially with the current wave of immigrants mainly from mainland China, so there is a sense of pride.

“It is such prestige to host an Olympic event and Olympians from all over the world. … I think a lot of people are feeling a sense of pride and definitely excitement … and are also anxious to follow how Canadian athletes experience China.”

If you ask Michael Grit, Ontario’s decision to ease lockdown restrictions couldn’t have come at a better time, landing as it did between Lunar New Year celebrations and the Games.

He says many in Toronto’s Chinese community are especially hyped to see the Olympic rings return to their homeland, ideally with fellow sports fans and in a setting that befits the occasion.

“We want to see this historic moment together and live on a big, big screen — a lot bigger than your average flat screen, I can tell you that,” says Grit, manager of Toronto’s Chinese Cultural Centre.

The centre was set to screen Friday’s opening ceremony at an east-end movie theatre opening for the first time since the lockdown with a pre-show reception and breakfast, followed by a viewing party and then a mix-and-mingle over doughnuts and much-needed coffee.

The theatre typically holds more than 600 people, but due to pandemic restrictions and an effort to social distance, he expected about 100 guests.

Still, amid a punishing fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chance to even attempt a modified return to normalcy is welcome.

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“We’re celebrating the Olympics, we’re celebrating this moment in China, we’re celebrating our Canadian athletes, and we’re celebrating welcoming guests back to the centre,” adds Grit.

Although the pandemic may limit the number and verve of celebrations this year, some Olympic families, friends and fans are planning to organize events in honour of their hometown favourites, including Canada’s women’s curling team.

In Winnipeg — home to much of the team — fans plan to get together in Team Canada colours at St. Vital Curling Club for a free pancake breakfast on Feb. 10 to watch them play their first game.

Club marketing director Patti Ulrich says they’re keen to “show our love and support.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2002.