China's state propaganda machine kicked into top gear ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Friday, with officials refuting “rumors” of issues with the summer heat and athletes saying they can speak only to Chinese state media journalists.
As social media platforms in China offered detailed timetables and a countdown to the lavish opening of the Games that will see athletes parading along the River Seine in boats, flanked by eye catching performances and the kindling of the Olympic flame on the iconic Eiffel Tower, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's highly organized propaganda machine was apparently taking steps to stave off any coverage that could be deemed negative or embarrassing to Beijing.
"You need to get prior approval from the delegation," one woman wearing a Chinese team uniform told RFA Mandarin ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday.
"We can only talk to CCTV," said another young woman who identified herself as a gymnast, in a reference to China's state broadcaster.
Asked if other media organizations could request an interview, another athlete in the same group said: "They won't allow it."
The ruling came after the delegation held its own press conference to "refute" earlier media reports that the Chinese team was having its own air-conditioning installed in its multistory apartment block in the Olympic Village, which was decked out in dozens of Chinese national flags and cheerleading slogans across multiple floors.
No ‘hothouse flowers’
Delegation secretary-general Zhang Xin said it was "untrue" that the team had brought their own air-conditioning units, although he said they could hire portable machines from the organizers, should the apartments become too hot in the Parisian summer.
The top temperature in Paris on Friday was forecast at a comfortable 24C (75.2F), but will likely reach a scorching 32C (89.6F) next week, according to the U.K.'s Met Office.
The athletes' rooms are currently cooled by central ventilation units or piped, cool well-water and fans, which should be enough for now, according to Zhang.
But he said there is always the option to hire in portable units once temperatures rise. Zhang also dismissed as "untrue" media reports that the delegation had flown in its own mattresses, saying some individuals may have chosen to do so, but that it wasn't a team-wide operation.
"They're not hothouse flowers," team spokesman Zhang Xin told reporters. "They can deal with discomfort of various kinds."
"All teams are seriously focused on training and preparation for competition," he said.
The delegation from Hong Kong, which fields a separate team as Hong Kong, China, had no qualms about ensuring its athletes stayed cool, however.
Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China vice chairman Kenneth Fok slammed the lack of air-conditioning in half of the 5,000 rooms in the Olympic Village as unfair, saying the Hong Kong team has installed 45 portable air conditioners in athletes' rooms.
"If athletes living in rooms without air-conditioning lose the matches, they may stubbornly insist that their bad performance is the fault of no air-conditioning," Fok said in comments quoted by Hong Kong's The Standard newspaper.
‘Play it safe’
Edgar Yang, the committee's honorary secretary-general, said the move was to "play it safe," and should be completed by Friday.
The units weren't hired, but bought elsewhere in Europe and shipped to Paris with the help of Beijing's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong, the paper quoted him as saying.
He said poor sleep quality due to excessive heat could affect athletes' performance.
Hong Kong's badminton coach Tim He said the existing air-cooling arrangements weren't enough for the athletes, so he hoped the devices provided by the Hong Kong committee would arrive soon, the paper said.
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Social media comments took aim at the lack of air-conditioning for the Chinese national team.
"I checked the top temperatures for the past 10 days and it has been 31 degrees, and 17-18 degrees at night," a Weibo user from the southern province of Guangdong commented on Wednesday. "At these temperatures, how high should I turn up the air conditioner when I sleep at night?"
Another user replied: "Naturally you should turn it up to 26 degrees -- a great country would turn on the heating."
"So saying Paris is hot, and that it's hot in the Olympic Village is now considered a rumor?" a user from Sichuan added.
Another user quipped sarcastically: "The Ministry of Finance has taken a number of measures to encourage government departments and budget units to live frugally and concentrate more financial resources on the benefit of the people."
Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie.