2 Opinion Page
2 Opinion Page February 2 2022 | World and Press The Times comment At last, a sports body puts an athlete first SPORT The WTA’s withdrawal from China is a highly unusual move in that it puts business very much secondary to a player’s welfare. By Matt Dickinson 1 TO UNDERSTANDhow extraordinary, as well as admirable, the Women’s Tennis Association’s strong stance around Peng Shuai is from a sporting organisation faced with the might of China, we should remind ourselves what happened when the general manager from the Houston Rockets posted one short tweet in support of prodemocracy protestors in Hong Kong. All hell broke loose. 2 Seven words from Daryl Morey in 2019 – “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” – led to his team being taken off television screens in China for more than a year. Morey was forced into profuse apologies while the NBA was left tap-dancing between the un-American idea Training | mündl. Prüfung of closing down one man’s right to free speech and keeping its lucrative business in Beijing. 3 “Regrettable,” an NBA spokesman called Morey’s tweet, though the real regret would have been if the coach had cost the NBA a streaming deal worth .5 billion and a huge contract with Chinese state television. To smooth the waters, the NBA rebuked Morey for “deeply offending many of our friends and fans in China”. No one in basketball would be making that mistake again. 4 This is the realpolitik of sport’s globalisation, and it is probably worth reminding ourselves of that reality before we get too carried away, as some already have, that a suspension of women’s tennis in China may set off a global trend of ethical boycotts. 5 No more big-money fights, or grand prix races, or golf tournaments in Saudi Arabia? A wave of nations dropping out of the football World Cup in Qatar over workers’ conditions and LGBTQ+ rights? The world withdrawing from the looming Winter Olympics in Beijing in support of Peng? I wait to be proven wrong, but I suspect this is as likely as, well, the WTA pulling out of its own tournament in Qatar in solidarity with campaigners for gay rights. We all make compromises. 6 Credit to Steve Simon, the WTA president and chief executive, for not fudging on the issue of Peng. He has said that to walk away from the sinister disappearance of the player after she made allegations of sexual abuse against one of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) most senior figures would be unconscionable. “Then we’re telling the world that not addressing sexual assault with respect to the seriousness it requires is OK, because it’s too difficult,” he said. “And it’s simply something that we can’t let happen.” 7 It is a highly unusual stance in that it puts business very much secondary to a player’s welfare. China hosts about ten women’s tennis tournaments each year, including the WTA Finals, which are scheduled to be held in the country for a decade, so there are tens of millions of pounds at stake. The WTA has gone out alone and the world looks to other sporting organisations, like the men’s ATP, to see if they will pick up the fight, and waits ... and waits. 8 The least surprising development has been the International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking exactly the other course. The CCP could not have hoped for better public relations than the IOC president, Thomas Bach, only two months before the Winter Games, telling the world that Peng, a three-time Olympian, is not under any duress on the basis of a video call. 9 IOC cravenness informs us that the sporting world is highly unlikely to unite with the WTA. And while it is easy to call for wider boycotts, I share the unease of Matthew Syed, my colleague, on hearing demands that our athletes sacrifice their dreams and toil and ambition. Should our Winter Olympians, who have dedicated so much, miss out if a sporting boycott is not backed up with a full arsenal of trade, diplomatic, and political sanctions? Can we expect Team GB to take a stand if the rest of the world merrily troops to Beijing? 10 We have become so used to the IOC’s way of things, and to sporting authorities falling over themselves in pursuit only of the best deal, that the idea of boycotts and sanctions in itself feels very fanciful. Does the money not always win in the end? 11 But then the WTA comes along and does show what one body with gumption and backbone can achieve, at the very least in ensuring that the issue of Peng and her wellbeing remains in the spotlight. It probably is an exception but, because of that, an even more remarkable one. © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 1 SPORTS BODY; s.w.u. sports authority “O…"TÅr´ti‘ Sportverband — to put s.o. first jdn. an erste Stelle setzen — withdrawal “wID"drO…´l‘ Rückzug; s.w.u. to withdraw s. zurückziehen — to put s.th. secondary to s.th. etw. e-r S. unterordnen — admirable “"œdm´r´b´l‘ bewundernswert — stance Haltung — might Macht — general manager Manager(in) — all hell breaks loose (fig, coll) die Hölle bricht los 2 – 4 to stand with unterstützen — profuse “pr´"fju…s‘ wortreich — to tap-dance (fig) s. hin und her winden — right to free speech Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung — lucrative “"lu… kr´tIv‘ — spokesman Sprecher — billion Milliarde — to smooth the waters (fig) die Wogen glätten — to rebuke s.o. “rI"bju…k‘ jdn. zurechtweisen — suspension “s´"spenS´n‘ Aussetzung mit Interpretation 5 big-money fight hochdotierter Boxkampf — looming bevorstehend — to prove s.o. wrong jdn. e-s Besseren belehren — campaigner “kœm"peIn´‘ Aktivist(in) — to make compromises “"kÅmpr´maIzIz‘ Kompromisse eingehen 6 credit to … Anerkennung gilt … — chief executive “Æ-Ig"zekj´tIv‘ Chef(in) — to fudge s. aus der Verantwortung ziehen — to walk away from s.th. etw. ignorieren — sinister “"sInIst´‘ unheimlich — allegation “ÆœlI"geIS´n‘ Anschuldigung — sexual abuse “´"bju…s‘ sexueller Missbrauch — senior hochrangig — unconscionable “øn"kÅnS´n´b´l‘ unverantwortlich — to address s.th. s. mit etw. auseinandersetzen — sexual assault “´ "sO…lt‘ sexueller Übergriff 7 – 8 to host ausrichten — to be at stake auf dem Spiel stehen — to pick up the fight (fig) den Kampf aufnehmen — to take the other course (fig) den anderen Weg einschlagen — public relations Presse — under duress “djU"res‘ unter Zwang 9 cravenness “"kreIv´n´s‘ Feigheit — to unite with s. solidarisieren mit — unease Unbehagen — to sacrifice “"sœkrIfaIs‘ opfern — toil Mühen — to dedicate “"dedIkeIt‘ aufopfern — to back up unterstützen — to take a stand Stellung beziehen — merrily fröhlich — to troop strömen 10 – 11 way of things Vorgehensweise — to fall over o.s. (coll) übereifrig sein — in pursuit of “p´"sju…t‘ auf der Jagd nach — fanciful “"fœnsIf´l‘ unrealistisch — to come along herbeikommen — gumption “"gømpS´n‘ (coll) Mumm — backbone Rückgrat — remarkable “rI"mA…k´b´l‘ bemerkenswert impressum ISSN 0509-1632 Boycotting the China Olympics. | Cartoon: Paresh Nath, U.T. Independent, India World and Press erscheint 2 × monatlich (Juli und Dezember als Doppelausgabe) in der Carl Ed. Schünemann kg · Die Sprachzeitung · Schünemann-Haus 28174 Bremen Telefon: +49(0)421.36903-76 Fax: +49(0)421.36903-48 www.sprachzeitungen.de info@sprachzeitungen.de Verantwortliche Redakteurin Katrin Günther Redaktionsleitung Sprach zeitungen Melanie Helmers Redaktion Siobhan Bruns Sebastian Stumpf Franziska Lange Aletta Rochau Carol Richards Jessica Stuart Gestalterische Konzeption www.bmalx.de Layout & Umbruch Maïté Müller Druck Druckzentrum Nordsee GmbH Die in World and Press veröffent lichten Artikel bringen Meinungen der zitierten Zeitungen, aber nicht in jedem Fall die der Redaktion zum Ausdruck. Textkürzungen vorbehalten. | By special arrangement with proprietors of copyrights. Copyright strictly reserved under the Berne Convention © 2022 Kündigungs bedingungen Das Jahresabo verlängert sich um ein weiteres Jahr, wenn es nicht spätestens schriftlich 6 Wochen vor Ende des berechneten Bezugszeitraums gekündigt wird. 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World and Press | February 2 2022 In Focus 3 Europe revisits nuclear power as climate deadlines loom NUCLEAR ENERGY While wind and solar ramp up, several countries are looking to expand their nuclear energy programs. mit Übungen | Klausur By Liz Alderman and Stanley Reed 1 EUROPEAN countries desperate for a long-term and reliable source of energy to help reach ambitious climate goals are turning to an answer that caused earlier generations to shudder: nuclear power. 2 Poland wants a fleet of smaller nuclear power stations to help end its reliance on coal. Britain is betting on Rolls-Royce to produce cheap modular reactors to complement wind and solar energy. And in France, President Emmanuel Macron plans to build on the nation’s huge nuclear program. 3 As world leaders pledge to avert a climate catastrophe, the nuclear industry sees an opportunity for a revival. Sidelined for years after the disasters at Fukushima and Chernobyl, advocates are wrangling to win recognition of nuclear energy, alongside solar and wind, as an acceptable source of clean power. 4 More than half a dozen European countries recently announced plans to build a new generation of nuclear reactors. Some are smaller and cheaper than older designs, occupying the space of two football fields and costing a fraction of the price of standard nuclear plants. The Biden administration is also backing such technology as a tool of “mass decarbonization” for the United States. 5 “Nuclear is going mainstream in the climate movement,” said Kirsty Gogan, a member of Britain’s Nuclear Innovation Research and Advisory Board and a founder of TerraPraxis, a nonprofit that supports nuclear energy in the shift to a green economy. “This is a critical decade, and I think we’re going to see real change.” 6 But not everyone is buying A nuclear power plant in Dampierre-en-Burly, France. | Photo: Picture Alliance/Reuters the idea that nuclear is a solution to climate change. Ten years ago, a few months after an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, which forced the evacuation of over 150,000 people, the German government announced it would gradually shut down its nuclear program. Now Germany is at the head of a group of nations that want to defuse efforts to include more nuclear power in Europe’s green energy mix. They are worried about a proliferation of nuclear plants on European soil and the radioactive waste they produce. 7 The pushback is creating tensions with France, Europe’s largest nuclear energy producer, which has forged an unusual alliance with Eastern European countries that want to attract more investment for nuclear power, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The group is pressing the European Union to classify nuclear energy as a “sustainable” investment, a move that would unlock billions of euros of state aid and investment from pension funds, banks, and other investors seeking to put money in environmental causes. Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Spain have joined Germany in trying to beat back the initiative in Brussels. 8 The nuclear industry’s main selling point is a technology involving scaled-down plants, or small modular reactors, that supporters say are safe, cheap, and efficient. The argument is that wind and solar power alone won’t be enough to help countries meet the goals outlined at the U.N. climate summit this month in Glasgow, Scotland. 9 Nearly 200 countries at the conference pledged new efforts to | Infographic: Statista prevent Earth from heating more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with preindustrial levels. Past that threshold, the risk of deadly heat waves and storms, water scarcity, and ecosystem collapse escalates immensely, scientists warn. 10 But countries are falling far short even as they step up investments in wind and solar power, whose output varies with the elements. The reopening of the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic caused a recent spike in energy prices and set European governments scrambling to secure alternative supplies of power. 11 Nuclear advocates say that experience shows the need for a new generation of nuclear power. “Nuclear has a really important role to play in getting to net zero for many countries,” said Tom Samson, chief executive of Rolls-Royce SMR, which has been working for six years on a commercial small modular nuclear reactor design – and feels its moment has arrived. 12 Rolls-Royce, which announced the venture this month, is jumping into a multibilliondollar market for small nuclear reactors, competing with companies like NuScale, GE Hitachi, and TerraPower (which has Bill Gates as its chairman) in the United States; Électricité de France, the French state-owned power company; China’s National Nuclear Corp.; and KEPCO in South Korea. … 13 Labor unions in Britain and Europe back the initiatives, arguing that nuclear plants generate jobs and are preferable to renewable technologies like solar fields, which don’t require many workers to maintain. 14 Critics say nuclear power is hardly a solution for accelerating the push to net-zero emissions. For one thing, new nuclear stations, even small ones, will take up to a decade or more to come online, in part because of regulatory requirements, nowhere near fast enough to address a climate emergency. … © 2021 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 – 2 TO REVISITüberdenken — nuclear power “"nju…kli´‘ Atomkraft; s.w.u. n. p. station Atomkraftwerk — to loom näher rücken — to ramp up zunehmen — to be desperate for s.th. “"desp´r´t‘ etw. verzweifelt benötigen — to cause s.o. to shudder jdn. erschaudern lassen — fleet (fig) Flotte — reliance “rI"laI´ns‘ Abhängigkeit — to bet on s.o. auf jdn. setzen — modular reactor “"mÅdj´l´‘ modularer Reaktor — to complement “"kÅmplIment‘ ergänzen 3 – 4 to pledge zusichern — to avert “´"v‰…t‘ abwenden — revival “rI"vaIv´l‘ Wiederbelebung — to sideline ins Abseits drängen — advocate “"œdv´k´t‘ Befürworter(in) — to wrangle to do; s.w.u. to scramble to do s. hektisch bemühen zu tun — recognition “Ærek´g"nIS´n‘ Anerkennung — to occupy einnehmen — fraction Bruchteil — to back unterstützen — decarbonization “di…ÆkA…b´naI"zeIS´n‘ Dekarbonisierung 5 – 6 to go mainstream h.: s. etablieren — advisory board “´d"vaIz´ri‘ Beirat — founder Gründer(in) — nonprofit gemeinnützige Organisation — shift Wandel — critical entscheidend — meltdown Kernschmelze — to force h.: notwendig machen — to defuse “Ædi…"fju…z‘ entkräften; entschärfen — proliferation “pr´ÆlIf´r"eIS´n‘ starke Zunahme 7 pushback Widerstand — to forge an alliance “fO…dZ; ´"laI´ns‘ ein Bündnis schmieden — to press s.o. in jdn. dringen — to classify einstufen — sustainable “s´"steIn´b´l‘ nachhaltig — to unlock freisetzen; verfügbar machen — billion Milliarde — state aid staatl. Hilfen — pension fund Pensionsfonds — to seek to do s. bemühen zu tun — environmental causes h.: Initiativen, die der Umwelt zugutekommen 8 – 9 selling point Verkaufsargument — scaled-down (fig) abgespeckt — to outline umreißen — preindustrial “pri…In"døstri´l‘ vorindustriell — threshold “"TreS´Uld‘ Schwellenwert — water scarcity “"ske´s´ti‘ Wasserknappheit — collapse Zus.bruch 10 – 11 to fall short of s.th. hinter etw. zurückbleiben — to step up intensivieren — output Leistung — spike Steigerung — to secure sicherstellen — supplies of power Energieversorgung — chief executive “Æ-Ig"zekj´tIv‘ Chef(in) 12 – 14 venture “"ventS´‘ Projekt — multibillion-dollar milliardenschwer — chairman (of the board of directors) Vorsitzender (des Verwaltungsrats) — labor union Gewerkschaft — to maintain s.th. etw. warten — to accelerate “´k"sel´reIt‘ beschleunigen — push Vorstoß — regulatory requirements “"reg j´l´t´ri‘ behördliche Auflagen — to address s.th. etw. angehen
