Class News

Bob Hilgendorf ’64 writes about Nathan Chen ’24 and the Olympics

February 12, 2022

Bob Hilgendorf emailed:

The victory of Nathan Chen in the figure-skating competition highlighted the fact that there was not a single representative of the US government at the Beijing games to share in the victory with him. An ethnic Chinese young man trained in America — what an opportunity for the US and China to celebrate what each country means to the other!

Instead, the US engaged in a boycott of the Olympic games by its diplomats designed to “sanction” the Chinese for what we perceive as its genocide of the Uyghurs. There is no evidence of genocide (definition: deliberate killing of a large number of people from an ethnic group) and the use of that term by the TV commentators is not factual and is apparently designed to appease our political leadership and public.

Whether the Chinese policy is right or wrong, to offend the spirit of the Olympic games is not morally or ethically justified. Our political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, should be embarrassed by their orders barring our diplomats and official representatives from the games and from the world stage.

Nathan Chen is the hero of the day.