“The Chinese Olympic Committee claims that athletes from all over the world should enjoy equal rights to participate in international competitions,” a COC spokesperson told Chinese state media.

“Whether they participate or not should be determined based on sports performance, without interference from political and war factors.

“China upholds the principle of political neutrality in sports and opposes politicisation of sports. We believe that sport should be a bond that unites the world, not the other way around. The international sports community should work together for the shared future, rather than tearing it apart.

“We appreciate the IOC for its adherence to the principle of political neutrality, athlete-centred approach and efforts to guarantee the interests of every athlete amid difficulties and challenges.

“The Chinese Olympic Committee will actively respond to and support the initiatives and decisions of the IOC and OCA, and is ready to build platforms for all the athletes, including athletes from Russia and Belarus under such conditions, so as to jointly defend the Olympic values and the unity of the Olympic family.

“IOC, OCA and other stakeholders will further discuss the specific plans regarding the participation of such athletes in the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, while relevant plans will serve the common interests of all athletes.”

Originally set to take place in September 2022, the Hangzhou Games were postponed for a year because of Covid-19 restrictions in China, after a rise in cases.

Russian and its ally Belarus have been barred from competing in most Olympic sports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.

The OCA had said in a statement on Thursday that it “believes in the unifying power of sport”, and that all athletes should be able to compete in competitions “regardless of their nationality of the passport they hold”. OCA acting president Raja Randhir Singh also said the body would “respect the sanctions in place”.

Pui Kwan-kay, honorary vice-president of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC), agreed “sports should not be mixed up with politics”.

“I agree with the Chinese Olympic Committee’s stance, and I am in favour of the IOC and OCA’s decisions,” Pui told the Post on Saturday.

“The athletes have trained hard for years to compete – imagine how sad it is if they cannot participate in tournaments for non-sporting reasons? The IOC and OCA are doing the right thing to ensure political neutrality in sports.”

Asked whether allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Asian Games is unfair to Asian athletes, Pui said “sports are all about competition”.

“Of course the potential inclusion of more athletes will likely make any competition more intense,” he added. “But true athletes will never be afraid of competitions, as long as they are well-trained, and they are top-tier athletes, they will be fine.”

However, Zelensky on Friday invited IOC president Thomas Bach to visit the frontline city of Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk “so he can see for himself neutrality does not exist”.

Zelensky added that “it is obvious any neutral banner of Russian athletes is stained with blood” and that it was “impossible not to be disappointed” by Bach’s stance.

“I spoke with him more than once and never heard how he was going to protect sports from war propaganda if he returned Russian athletes to international competitions,” Zelensky said.

“We will do everything for the world to protect sport from the political and any other influence of a terrorist state, which is simply inevitable if Russian athletes compete.”