China’s foreign ministry has supported claims made in the China Daily newspaper that the United States is encouraging and bribing athletes to compete “passively” and conduct acts of “sabotage” at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The allegations were refuted by the U.S. embassy in China and were ridiculed on Chinese social media. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Saturday backed accusations made by unnamed sources used in the Chinese Communist Party’s China Daily report the day before. The report “exposed the real intention of some Americans to politicize sports and to sabotage and interfere with the Beijing Winter Olympics,” the spokesmen told Reuters. The alleged plan included the U.S. inciting athletes from various countries to criticize China, to compete half-heartedly, or even not to participate in the competition. A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in China denied the claims in an email to Reuters. “We were not and are not coordinating …