The sudden axing of the 2026 Commonwealth Games probably suits the CCP and the EU

The Commonwealth is the largest cultural union of nations across the globe. It includes one third of the world’s population in a group of 56 nations with 2.4 billion people. It could also be the largest trading block in the world, if only member nations wanted it to be that way. And who wouldn’t — well, obviously the EU and the Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t. For them, The Commonwealth is a threat, a club they can’t control, a sleeping giant. It’s kind of an inverse “Belt and Road” — but one that spread democracy and human rights.

Maybe its nothing, but Dan Andrews (premier of Victoria) who signed up to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, then abruptly sank it, also once signed the state up for the Belt and Road program, which the Federal government blocked.

So we have to ask — who benefits from the shock announcement to cancel the Commonwealth Games?

Why suddenly was an athletic carnival not worth doing for anything less than $7 billion dollars? As The Australian points out, The Gold Coast hosted the Games in 2018 for $1.8 billion dollars, and Birmingham managed it in 2022 for meager $1.5 billion. Yet suddenly Victoria can’t afford it?

Damaging the Commonwealth Games is a salvo in the culture war that seeks to destroy the heritage events that remind us of our natural allegiances, shared values and history. These are our friends and allies, and while it may seem a distant claim, as many as 1.7 million people died defending Commonwealth nations in World War I and II. The history is rich.

The same culture war that destroys our statues and heroes is coming for our sport. The Commonwealth Games is a free market in athletic ability, a merit based competition. People can’t buy medals, or schmooze their way onto the podium, and the winners may use their fame to question authority.

The beneficiaries potentially include both domestic and foreign interests that do better when the old pillars of free markets, free speech, patriotism and competition are erased. So add local status seeking bureaucrats as well as the WEF and UN.

The Commonwealth Games is another public town square where ideas get put on trial.

We need these shared experiences.  Far from being irrelevant entertainment, these kinds of public competitions are exactly the kind of tests that ruin fashionable but silly ideologies, like for example the idea that men can become women by thinking it to be so. Sporting codes are waking up as people see the absurdity of former male athletes winning the women’s gold medals. Just in the last few days, the Worlds Cycling body banned people who have been through male puberty from competing against women. That came after a transgender athlete became the first openly transgender woman to win an official cycling event in January this year.

Strange ideas get tested in open competitions. Not just weird diets and training routines, but mental truths too.

We didn’t ask for this test, but the test is here — do we care about The Commonwealth?

The Commonwealth is hardly perfect, but it is competition. It is a dormant foil for EU and CCP power, and especially if it ever had a leader willing to connect the dots, there is the threat it could revive a trading empire.

It may surprise people to find out that in theory, any nation can apply to join the Commonwealth now. Membership of the modern Commonwealth “does not depend on formerly being part of the British Empire”, even though nearly all the members are. King Charles is “the head” of the Commonwealth but he is only king of 15 member states, 36 others are Republics and another 5 even have their own Monarch.

Something to think about.