French Foreign Minister congratulates Beijing on winning bid for 2022 Winter

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state, pitched itself as a model for future hosts, embracing all the new reforms with a low-cost bid in a city which already has most of the facilities in place after hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games. And just like before and after the city was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics, watchdog groups were highly critical. The decision came down in a vote by the global Olympic Committee.

The IOC has a nondiscrimination clause in its host city contract but has repeatedly maintained that the provision can only be enforced as it relates directly to the Games.

Beijing doesn’t get much snow, but a release says the IOC saw the Chinese capital as a ‘reliable and safe choice’.

“This year we are celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the IOC’s presence in Lausanne”, IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters.

The worldwide Olympic Committee selected Beijing as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, lured by the guarantee of financial and organisational reliability of China.

But it held up the result and in Beijing performers and uniformed volunteers also erupted into dancing and flag-waving joy as the Chinese capital was named. “Today, Beijing together with Zhangjiakou has won the bid to host the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games“, President Xi said in the letter.

Performers organised by the government, many in matching white outfits, danced and waved Chinese flags in front of the Bird’s Nest, the centrepiece for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

“The success of organising the 2008 Beijing Summer Games gives the IOC the trust needed”.

Almaty played on China’s lack of snow with its “Keeping it Real” slogan that impressed IOC members who went on an inspection visit in June.

“I have explained very clearly”, Bach said. The snow events are slated to be held in Yangqing and Zhangjiakou, which are 40 and 90 miles, respectively, outside Beijing.

“Consistent with our long-term winter sports develop plan, we will continue to develop our city into a winter sports hub for all of Central Asia”. It is with an incredible sense of excitement that we express our thanks to the IOC and the wider Olympic Movement. “Over the next seven years, the IOC has enormous work to do in China to win the credibility on human rights that will ensure a successful Olympics”. A high-speed rail line will be built to connect the two cities, which is expected to reduce teh current four-hour drive to 50 minutes. Some human rights lawyers and activists might see it differently, but given the current government crackdown on them, many are in no position to object. “China wants the world to ignore its deteriorating human rights and be impressed by Chinese can-do pragmatism instead”.