<p>The Asian Games due to take place in Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely, organisers said Friday, as China battles a resurgence of Covid cases.</p>.<p>No reason was given for the delay, but China is racing to extinguish its largest outbreak of Covid-19 since the early days of the pandemic.</p>.<p>"The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that the 19th Asian Games, originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25, 2022, will be postponed," said a statement on the official Games website, first posted on Chinese state media.</p>.<p>The new dates for the sporting contest "will be announced at a later date", the statement added.</p>.<p>The host city of Hangzhou lies less than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the country's biggest city, Shanghai, which has endured a weeks-long lockdown as part of the ruling Communist Party's zero-tolerance approach to the virus.</p>.<p>Organisers said last month that Hangzhou, a city of 12 million in eastern China, had finished constructing some 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games.</p>.<p>At the time, they indicated that they planned to hold the events under a virus control plan that "learns from the successful experience" of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held in February in a strict Covid-secure bubble.</p>.<p>Hangzhou was poised to become the third city in China to host the continental competition after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.</p>.<p>Some events were due to be held in other provincial cities including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua.</p>.<p>Almost all international sport has grind to a halt in China since Covid emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.</p>.<p>The Beijing Olympics was an exception but it was held in a strict "closed loop" with everyone inside it, including athletes, staff, volunteers and media, taking daily Covid tests and not allowed to venture into the wider public.</p>.<p>China has stubbornly stuck to a zero-Covid policy, imposing strict lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing programmes even while other countries start to reopen as the threat of the pandemic recedes.</p>.<p>The government has touted the strategy as proof that it values human life above material concerns and can avert the public health crises seen in many Western countries.</p>.<p>Top leaders on Thursday again vowed to "unwaveringly adhere" to zero-Covid and "resolutely fight against" criticism of the policy despite a growing public outcry against the measures.</p>.<p>Anger is especially pointed in Shanghai, where 25 million people have seethed under a patchwork of lockdowns since March amid complaints of overzealous lockdown measures and spartan quarantine conditions.</p>
<p>The Asian Games due to take place in Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely, organisers said Friday, as China battles a resurgence of Covid cases.</p>.<p>No reason was given for the delay, but China is racing to extinguish its largest outbreak of Covid-19 since the early days of the pandemic.</p>.<p>"The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that the 19th Asian Games, originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25, 2022, will be postponed," said a statement on the official Games website, first posted on Chinese state media.</p>.<p>The new dates for the sporting contest "will be announced at a later date", the statement added.</p>.<p>The host city of Hangzhou lies less than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the country's biggest city, Shanghai, which has endured a weeks-long lockdown as part of the ruling Communist Party's zero-tolerance approach to the virus.</p>.<p>Organisers said last month that Hangzhou, a city of 12 million in eastern China, had finished constructing some 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games.</p>.<p>At the time, they indicated that they planned to hold the events under a virus control plan that "learns from the successful experience" of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held in February in a strict Covid-secure bubble.</p>.<p>Hangzhou was poised to become the third city in China to host the continental competition after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.</p>.<p>Some events were due to be held in other provincial cities including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua.</p>.<p>Almost all international sport has grind to a halt in China since Covid emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.</p>.<p>The Beijing Olympics was an exception but it was held in a strict "closed loop" with everyone inside it, including athletes, staff, volunteers and media, taking daily Covid tests and not allowed to venture into the wider public.</p>.<p>China has stubbornly stuck to a zero-Covid policy, imposing strict lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing programmes even while other countries start to reopen as the threat of the pandemic recedes.</p>.<p>The government has touted the strategy as proof that it values human life above material concerns and can avert the public health crises seen in many Western countries.</p>.<p>Top leaders on Thursday again vowed to "unwaveringly adhere" to zero-Covid and "resolutely fight against" criticism of the policy despite a growing public outcry against the measures.</p>.<p>Anger is especially pointed in Shanghai, where 25 million people have seethed under a patchwork of lockdowns since March amid complaints of overzealous lockdown measures and spartan quarantine conditions.</p>