Editor's note: Anthony Moretti is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Echoes of the Cold War can be heard if you listen closely to what two German sports officials are claiming.

Their message is terribly unfair to every Chinese public official and private citizen.

Wolfgang Maier, the head of Alpine events for the German Ski Federation, recently warned that unnamed people in China could alter coronavirus test results on athletes during the Olympics. In Maier's thinking – which violates every spirit of the Olympics – any athlete could be taken "out of circulation" because there is "no protection for the athletes" who are "defectively exposed to despotism" while in China.

In addition, Michael Hoelz, the president of Snowboarding Germany, also decried the potential for tampering with coronavirus test results. According to Reuters, Hoelz said, "It is relatively easy with (COVID-19) testing, someone can later say, 'We are sorry, it was a false positive.'"

Justifiably, Chinese sports officials shot down the nonsensical idea that coronavirus tests would be or could be manipulated. Huang Chun, deputy director-general of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee Pandemic Prevention and Control Office, recently outlined the testing procedures. They include a safeguard allowing any Olympic athlete or official to have their results examined by the Beijing 2022 Medical Expert Panel. You might recall a similar panel was in place during the Tokyo Olympics last year to prevent mistakes.

Huang added that any positive result automatically generates a second test so that the possibility of a false-positive will be negated.

Let us not mince words here. Maier and Hoelz are suggesting China is ready to cheat to either increase its medal total or silence any athlete who criticizes it.

We need not ask from where such hostile thinking comes. The answer includes Western government officials, think tank experts and mainstream media on a nonstop campaign to question or discount anything China does at home or abroad. The biased and fake reality they wish to project is one in which China will stop at nothing to become the new global hegemon.

This dangerous narrative gains further credibility throughout the West when people hear that Western athletes are being advised to use burner phones or other simplified communication methods while in China to avoid becoming a potential victim of China's nefarious aims.

For example, just the other day, I heard the presenter at a Council on Foreign Relations webinar suggest that there are fears China could use a required health app athletes download while in Beijing to hack their phones and gain private health information. The Chinese government then could use any potentially damaging information it found to discredit the athlete. 

Adam Segal said he worried athletes could face "harassment" in the future if they spoke out against China during the Games.

Returning to Maier and Hoelz, we should demand that they acknowledge that the Chinese government and sport officials have been consistently in communication with the leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure a fair and safe game for every athlete and official, no matter the country they call home.

The comprehensive and detailed bubble plan guarantees that every athlete, coach and team official has the opportunity from the moment of arrival in Beijing to be protected from exposure to the virus.

Let us also not forget that China is cooperating with the IOC, which has adjusted the numerical threshold at which an athlete would test positive. 

I risk oversimplifying what is happening, but here it goes. China has set a higher threshold for coronavirus tests than many other nations in its commitment to keep its people safe. That threshold will be lowered slightly for Olympic athletes so that they are more likely to test negative. Doctors will still determine when any quarantined athlete or official can return to the bubble.

Here, again, is an example of how the bubble works. No Chinese citizen risks infection, provided that no Olympic athlete violates the bubble system. Thus, public health will not be threatened even as Chinese officials accommodate the IOC's testing standards.

In an IOC statement, Chinese officials were complimented for adapting "to the reality of the current environment and [providing] further support of Games participants."

Positive messaging such as that one is scoffed at in the West, where any idea that China is "cooperating," "adapting" or "supporting" is often met with a sarcastic "sure it is"response. It ought not to be. 

Much like their counterparts who competed in last summer's delayed Tokyo Olympics, competitors will exit Beijing soon after their events are completed. Every Chinese and IOC official would prefer that the athletes stay, but current global health conditions do not allow for that.

Perhaps if governments such as Maier's and Hoelz's had committed to containing the virus more substantially than they have, a "typical" Olympics would have been possible in 2022. But when public health is not the number one objective in a pandemic, billions of people around the world must adjust.

The Olympics begin in just a couple of days. As you watch, you should have every confidence that every athlete is being treated fairly and with transparency. Despite what some sports officials want you to think, no athlete who can compete will be prevented from doing so.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)