Recently, U.S. Senators suggested that American athletes should be banned from using the digital yuan at the upcoming Beijing Olympics because of its possible security risks.
The Foreign Ministry of China has responded by saying that the U.S. government should stop making statements that could harm the digital yuan’s integrity as a currency.
Zhao Lijan, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, urged U.S. politicians not to make any “trouble” by making statements that are unverified and could taint the e-CNY’s image.
Direct response
China didn’t let the American senators’ statements pass without making any direct response on its part.
“Stop making sports as a political matter and stop making troubles out of the digital currency in China,” Lijan said.
China is expected to launch a more extensive trial of its digital yuan in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.
The government has previously made numerous tests of its e-CNY and the upcoming sporting event will again test the digital yuan’s capabilities, only on a bigger scale.
Digital yuan’s dominance
The Chinese government may not admit it but its series of trials are not its only effort to further push its digital yuan.
Its crackdown efforts on crypto-related operations in recent months are also seen as an action by the government to eliminate competition for its digital currency.
Environmental concerns and illegal use of electricity are among the major reasons of the authorities for destabilizing crypto operations in the country.
And while these reasons are legitimate, many analysts believe that the true motive of the government behind these efforts is to “clear up the space” for the roll-out of its digital yuan.
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