Taiwan yesterday condemned Russia after its UN envoy brought up an Olympic boxing row focused on the gender of two female competitors, including Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) of Taiwan.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemned the remarks made by Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy during a meeting of the body focused on women, peace and security on Wednesday.
Polyanskiy accused Western nations of monopolizing the Olympics and “aggressively” imposing an LGBT agenda on the rest of the world, a Reuters report said.
Photo: CNA
“At the Olympic Games in Paris, female boxers are being publicly subjected to violence [by] athletes who had previously failed hormonal tests done by the International Boxing Federation [IBA] and, according to the Federation and according to common sense, are men,” Polyanskiy was quoted as saying in the report.
Lin’s eligibility in the Olympics has been confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the ministry said, adding that the IBA has lost its credibility on the international stage.
It is the second consecutive Olympics in which the IBA has not managed the boxing events. The IOC suspended the association in 2019 and revoked its recognition last year due to corruption scandals and financial mismanagement.
Polyanskiy arbitrarily cited false accusations made by the IBA without verification and abused the UN Security Council venue to present falsehoods that have nothing to do with maintaining international peace and security, MOFA said.
This fully demonstrates Russia’s disregard for international rules and justice while intentionally using its political influence to affect Olympic events, it said.
The ministry also called on the international community to unite in jointly safeguarding the Olympic spirit of “friendship, unity and fair competition.”
President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) have publicly expressed their support for the Taiwanese boxer.
Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif have been subjected to abuse on social media and inaccurate online speculation about their gender, including from J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series.
The IBA and its president, Umar Kremlev from Russia, have continued to make allegations about the gender of the two boxers after disqualifying them from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships last year over opaque eligibility tests.
The IOC has called these attacks “dangerous, misogynistic and baseless.”
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