The South Korean president has taken offense against the Japanese and canceled his way to the Games
The 2020 Olympic Games start in Tokyo in a very unusual way, with a minimum of guests and spectators. High-ranking guests from all over the world usually come to the start of the Olympic Games, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also modified this tradition. We found out which of the world's leading VIPs decided to come to the Olympics.
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Due to coronavirus, the number of high-ranking guests at the start of the Tokyo Games was much lower than in previous years. The organizers stated that only 950 VIPs are allowed in the stadium, which can accommodate almost 70,000 people. And the empty seats in the stands serve as a living but sad reminder of the danger of a pandemic.
Even ceremonies without the participation of His Majesty the Japanese Emperor Naruhita, who declares the Olympic Games open, other members of the imperial family. The Imperial Household Department stated that this decision was made in accordance with the plans of other Olympics officials who are also present at the opening of the World Sports Festival unaccompanied by their husbands.
And in the case of the President of the United States, for example, he arrived in Tokyo with his wife Jill Biden. The 78-year-old American leader himself stayed at home. For his wife, his presence at the Olympic celebrations was & mdash; her first experience of an independent trip abroad as the first lady of the United States (she managed to visit Great Britain so recently with her husband during his European tour).
In general, according to Katsunobu Kato, the Chief Secretary of the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers, at a press conference, representatives of about 15 countries and international organizations met at the opening ceremony of the Summer Games. For comparison & ndash; In 2016, approximately 40 foreign leaders attended a similar event in Rio de Janeiro, and approximately 80 foreign leaders attended the opening ceremony of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London. The difference is palpable! But what about foreigners, when even a number of Japanese corporate sponsors of the Tokyo Olympic Games refused to send their top leadership to the opening ceremony; it is also a sign of pandemic time. The High Representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the worldwide spread of coronavirus variants has forced many leaders to cancel their visits to Tokyo.
Meanwhile, high-ranking foreign figures who have arrived in spite of COVID can take the opportunity to establish personal relationships with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihid Suga, who became the head of the pandemic during the pandemic.
As expected, Jill Biden was among the first on the guest list to receive. The Japanese Prime Minister described the presence of the First Lady of the United States at the opening ceremony of the games as “extremely important” for Japanese-American ties.
Prime Minister Suga also received a delegation led by Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, Vice President of South Sudan.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tokyo and ndash; after all, he is the head of the country that will host the next Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024. In addition, it seems that the head of the Fifth Republic will have to participate in the fate of 39-year-old Frenchman Vincent Fichot, who went on hunger strike to protest hunger. The Japanese judiciary does not allow him to see his children married by his wife.>
VIP guests at the Tokyo Olympics also include Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhan Gebreyesus.
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A senior government official at Rising Sun on the eve of the Olympic Games said that in addition to foreign leaders, about 70 ministerial officials were planning to visit Japan, but added that the number of foreign high-ranking guests could change constantly until the last minute.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he would not come to Japan. Relations between Seoul and Tokyo are already burdened by a difficult historical past, but it is possible that the last straw for the South Korean leader turned out to be incorrect statements by a high-ranking Japanese diplomat to him, who commented at a summit of leaders in both countries by President Moon. he masturbated by postponing the decision on the summit meeting. Although Tokyo apologized for such a strong statement from its representative, the question of Moon Jae-in's presence at the opening of the Olympic Games naturally disappeared on its own. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also declined to attend the ceremony. According to the press, due to the state of emergency in Tokyo and the lack of spectators.
And as Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, the Russian president will not be represented at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics: “After all, a special and special regime for the Olympics.” That is the reality in which we must work. “
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