The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has defended selecting a member of the Uighur people to light the Olympic cauldron for the Beijing Winter Games. Cross country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, 21, lit the cauldron together with Zhao Jiawen, the first man to represent China in Nordic combined skier, at National Stadium. China has come under fire from western nations for its treatment of the Uighur people, a largely Muslim ethnic group in the north-western province of Xinjiang. On Saturday, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said Yilamujiang was an Olympian competing at the Games and was “absolutel…