Torch bearers Dinigeer Yilamujiang (L) and Zhao Jiawen set the torch into the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at the National Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 4, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

Click here to stay tuned with our live updates on Ukraine tensions.

"Come on!" This is how China's tennis player Zhang Shuai hit back at the audience who disturbed her during the final of the Lyon Open on Sunday afternoon.

She eventually staged a comeback victory to clinch her third career title under various pressures. How difficult was it to claim this victory? Her opponent was Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine. Yastremska and her younger sister made it out of Ukraine and got to Lyon to play. When she appeared, she had a Ukrainian flag draped around her shoulders. 

Against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, the Western crowd injected natural support and sympathy for this Ukrainian player, while Zhang had to endure the boos and whistles and the indifference of the referee before claiming victory.

This is the latest manifestation of the politicization of sports in the West, even to such an extent as hooliganism. The Cold War mentality has never ceased in the West, but has touched almost all fields such as society, culture, and sports. The US-led Western countries have been exploiting sports as a tool to undermine other countries, among which are China and Russia. From the boycott of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, to the string of political maneuvers around the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the West has hysterically staged the play of sports politicization one after another, an effort to coordinate with its strategic containment campaign against China and Russia.

In the latest Russia-Ukraine conflict, the West has offered the finest explanation of how freedom, art, and sports are confined by borders. US social network platforms such as Facebook have blocked Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik in Europe to comply with EU sanctions. The performances of Russian conductor Valery Gergiev and soprano Anna Netrebko have been cancelled by US organizations. Even trees and cats have become the victim of Western sanctions against Russia. 

At Sunday's Lyon Open, the Western audience broke fairness in sports through non-civilized means. The West disguises itself as someone honest and kind who stands at the highest point of morality and who is strict with rules. Nonetheless, what cannot be hidden is its hooligan-style maliciousness and shallowness. Worse, such maliciousness and shallowness are becoming normal.

Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that whether a sports competition is fair or not is not important for the West; sports have become a platform where Westerners tout their political stance, which reveals Western hypocrisy and double standards.

"For a long time, Western countries had taken a leading role in the sports field. They signaled to non-Western countries that sports competition should be held in a fair manner and not be disturbed by external factors. But now they are breaking their own rules," said Zhang.

The intolerance of Westerners toward border-free freedom, art, and sports shows they do not match the international prestige they used to enjoy. The West's declining ability falls short of its wishes to play a bigger role in the face of regional crises and major power wrangling. The West does not have the discourse power it once had, and its political yelling does not carry much weight anymore.

It is not hard to imagine what political frenzy it would bring to the Western crowd if Zhang had not managed to win. During her performance, this Chinese athlete freed herself from political disturbance and let the spirit of sports play. It showcases Chinese-style confidence and calmness, which serves as the loudest slap on the West's hooligan politics.