A visitor in Beijing takes pictures of logos for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)(Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) – The Chinese government has slapped down criticism after several countries’ national Olympic committees advised their athletes not to take personal mobile devices to Beijing for the upcoming Winter Games due to hacking and surveillance risks.

Organizers of the controversial games defended the security of a mobile app which all participants and attendees are required to download and use. Expert researchers in Canada have raised concerns about “a simple but devastating flaw” in the Chinese-designed app, which will hold users’ demographic information, health and travel history, and other personal data.

Athletes from the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Australia, among others, are being counseled not to use personal phones or laptops in Beijing during the games.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee advised athletes in recent months that “every device, communication, transaction and online activity may be monitored” while they are in China.

“Your device(s) may also be compromised with malicious software, which could negatively impact future use.”

The report said members of Team USA should consider taking cheap, disposable phones along instead.

With reports of similar advice from other countries’ national committees, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was invited to comment.

“By raising the so-called cybersecurity issue in China, relevant countries, who are guilty of the charge themselves, are accusing the innocent party without any evidence,” he said, alluding to Beijing’s often-stated charge that it is the victim, not the perpetrator, of cyberattacks.

The Chinese Communist Party oversees one of the world’s most intrusive systems of Internet control and censorship, sometimes dubbed the “Great Firewall.”

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the protocols for the tightly-managed Winter Olympics include a requirement that all participants download and use the “MY2022”…