The Winter Olympics in Beijing next year will be a "rite of passage" for China to become a mature major power, the state-backed Global Times said in an editorial on Tuesday, alleging that anti-Chinese forces were trying to make trouble.
Referring to comments made by the United States that it might consider a diplomatic boycott of the Games in February to protest China's human rights practices, the Global Times said it was "not worthy" for China to expend energy on the matter, or "even attempt to reverse their negative thoughts towards China."
"The ideological conflicts between China and the West will escalate before the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 as anti-Chinese forces will converge to make trouble for China," said the Global Times, which is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.