Reuters-Asia Olympic council looking into Indian athletes China visa issue
September 24, 2023 2 min 297 words
这则报道涉及了印度运动员因签证问题而无法参加中国亚洲运动会的情况，引发了一系列复杂的外交和政治问题。首先，这次事件再次突显了中印之间长期存在的领土争端和紧张关系。中国将签发钉书签证给印度选手，被印度视为对其领土主权的挑战，特别是涉及到阿鲁纳恰尔邦，这是一个中国和印度争议的地区。印度坚决拒绝中国的主张，认为阿鲁纳恰尔邦一直是印度的一部分。这种争端不仅反映在外交领域，也延伸到了体育赛事中。 其次，这次事件也显示了体育和政治之间的复杂关系。体育赛事通常应该是超越政治的平台，但现实却是政治问题可以影响到运动员的参赛资格。签发签证的方式被中国用来传递政治信息，这不仅引发了运动员的无法参赛问题，还影响到了比赛的正常进行。这是一种不幸的情况，因为体育应该是促进国际友谊和合作的机会。 最后，这次事件也再次提醒我们，国际体育组织和政府之间需要更好的协作机制，以确保类似问题的迅速解决。运动员不应该成为政治争端的牺牲品，他们应该有机会在国际舞台上竞技。希望中印双方能够通过对话和外交手段解决这个问题，以保障运动员的权益，同时也促进两国之间的和平与合作。
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Asian Games organisers are examining the issue of three Indian athletes unable to join the games in China due to a visa problem, acting OCA President Raja Randhir Singh said on Sunday.
"OCA is looking into it, definitely," as well as organisers and the government, Singh told a press conference in the eastern Chinese host city, Hangzhou. "Since it's a diplomatic issue, they're looking into it. And hopefully, let's see, (whether) something good comes out of it."
The three wushu fighters from the state of Arunachal Pradesh were issued stapled visas instead of stamped ones, India's foreign ministry said. India does not accept stapled visas as valid.
Wei Jizhong, chairman of the OCA's ethics committee, told reporters last week that China did not refuse entry to the athletes.
The practice of issuing visas on loose sheets of paper has been seen as China's way of questioning India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh, a region near the China-India border that Beijing claims as part of Tibet.
New Delhi vociferously rejects the claim, saying Arunachal Pradesh has always been part of India.
Beijing and New Delhi fought a war over the disputed Himalayan frontier in 1962 and have been uneasy neighbours ever since. Relations nosedived in 2020 over a border clash in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
At the Asian Games, delayed by a year due to COVID-19, some 12,400 athletes from 45 nations are competing for 481 gold medals across a huge programme of 40 sports.