State Department backs Team USA athletes' freedom of expression in Beijing
CNN
The State Department has shared information about China's human rights abuses with US Olympic athletes and defended athletes' right to express opposition to those violations on the eve of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
"US athletes are entitled to express themselves freely in line with the spirit and charter of the Olympics, which includes advancing human rights. We call on the PRC to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including that very freedom of expression," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday.
The Olympic Charter's Rule 50 dictates that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites," but it does not prohibit voicing concerns on social media or during media interviews.
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