News anchor Savannah Guthrie in hot water for Uyghur comment during Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

A news anchor is in hot water after she made an interesting comment in the middle of the Opening Ceremony for Beijing’s Winter Olympics.

NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie. Picture: Destination NSW

A news anchor from the US has kicked off a social media firestorm after she labelled China’s decision to select its final torchbearer from the troubled Xinjiang region an “in your face response to the west”.

NBC news anchor Savannah Guthrie was commentating the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony for the network last night when she made the comment in the event’s final moments.

“This moment is quite provocative. It’s a statement from the Chinese President Xi Jinping to choose an athlete from the Uyghur minority,” Guthrie said, referring to the moment Uyghur athlete Dinigeer Yilamujiang took the torch to its final place.

“It is an in your face response to those Western nations, including the US, who have called this Chinese treatment of that group genocide and diplomatically boycotted these games. There will be much discussion about this.”

NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie is in hot water. Picture: Destination NSW

The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group native to Xinjiang, the supposedly autonomous region situated in China’s northwest.

China has been systematically targeting them for years, incarcerating Uighurs en masse and attempting to stamp out their culture.

It’s built a series of complexes in Xinjiang, which it describes as perfectly innocent “vocational training centres”. In truth, they are modern day gulags where torture and other human rights abuses are rife.

Guthrie’s characterisation of the moment was swiftly slammed on social media.

The CCP through deception and malice failed to alert the world about an escape coronavirus and therefore committed "genocide."

— Kyle Becker 🏁 (@kylenabecker) February 4, 2022

NBC Hack Turned CCP Shill Savannah Guthrie Regurgitates CCP State Media script on Uighurs LIVE on NBC

This is absolutely sick.

pic.twitter.com/5NL2iLqVEB

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 4, 2022

Shameful @SavannahGuthriehttps://t.co/9lkcaBXUHr

— Mike Hahn 🚀 (@mikehahn_) February 4, 2022

After initially denying the existence of the “re-education” camps, Beijing has since said they are “vocational training centres” aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism.

Ms Yilamujiang shared the torch with fellow athlete Zhao Jiawen.

Born in Xinjiang, 20-year-old Yilamujiang became the first Chinese cross-country skiing medallist in an international ski federation-level event, having finished second in the opening women’s leg in Beijing in 2019.

Yilamujiang trained in Norway for the last three years with the national team, according to a video on the Beijing 2022 YouTube channel.

“The only thing we can do now is train hard and win glory for the country,” she said in the video.

The torch bearers carry the Olympic flame during the Opening Ceremony. Picture: Getty Images

The video commentary also describes her ethnicity as “Uyghur”.

The US and politicians from many western nations have accused China of carrying out a genocide against its Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, a charge Beijing denies.

Washington is leading a diplomatic boycott of the Games by a group of Western nations including Britain, Canada and Australia over China’s human rights record.

The countries taking part in the boycott have not sent officials to Beijing but their athletes will participate in competitions.

- with AFP