Another portion of the Beijing Olympics has been exposed as being faked. The opening ceremony included a segment which supposedly showed children from 56 different ethnic groups. The problem is, they were all from the same ethnic group.
The Telegraph reports that the children were dressed in different costumes all associated with China's ethnic minorities, meant to display "national unity", yet in reality, all the children were from the same ethnic group, the Han Chinese which is the majority ethnic group in China making up over 90 percent of the population.
The official guide to the opening ceremony said that the children did not just represent but "came from" China's ethnic groups.
"Fifty-six children from 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster around the Chinese national flag, representing the 56 ethnic groups," it said.
When the executive vice-president of the Beijing organizing committee, Wang Wei, was asked about the misrepresentation, his reply was, "I think you are being very meticulous," and he claimed it was traditional to use dancers from other ethnic groups in this way. He continued on to say, "I would argue it is normal for dancers, performers, to be dressed in other races' clothes. I don't know exactly where these performers are from."
It may very well be traditional in Wei's mind, but given the statement from the official guide to the opening ceremonies saying outright that the children did not just represent the minority ethnic groups but were actually from those specific ethnic groups, the two statements do not coincide.
This is just the latest news in fakery which surrounds the Beijing Olympics.
It was reported previously that the girl that sang "Hymn to the Motherland" was actually faking it and it was really sung by a child that was deemed not pretty enough to appear in front of the crowd. It was also reported that the footprint fireworks show that was televised internationally was also digitally enhanced and pre-recorded and not all the footprints seen were real.
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