Japanese Olympic Committee Tells Youth Athletes Not To Wear Uniforms In Nanjing

The Japanese Olympic Committee told its Youth Olympic Games athletes "not to wear their official tracksuits when out and about in the host city of Nanjing in China due to fears over potential attacks," according to Peter Rutherford of REUTERS. Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, "have been strained by a territorial row over a group of East China Sea islets and Chinese allegations that Japan has not properly atoned for wartime aggression." JOC Exec Board member Yosuke Fujiwara said that they "were taking precautions to ensure their athletes were safe in Nanjing." Fujiwara said, "When they are outside, we want them to be aware that it might not be totally safe. In the Athletes' Village we want them to wear the official Japan tracksuit, but in the city normal clothes are fine" (REUTERS, 8/12).