The United States announces a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing

Suite: 06.12.2021| Reading time: 2 minutes

DrThe United States has announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics due to human rights violations in China. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington on Monday that the administration of President Joe Biden will not send diplomatic or official representatives to the Olympic Games in China. The background to this is the ongoing “genocide” in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region and other human rights abuses.

Psaki said the US government will encourage American athletes from home. When asked why the US government refrained from completely boycotting the Games, Psaki said she did not want to penalize athletes who trained extensively for the Games. The government sees the move as also sending a “clear message”.

China had already anticipated such a boycott and threatened the United States with countermeasures. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday that not sending high-profile figures to the events in Beijing would be an outright political provocation.

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“Without being asked, US politicians have repeatedly emphasized the so-called diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is just wishful thinking and showmanship,” Zhao said. He did not elaborate on possible countermeasures.

The Winter Olympics will be held in China from February 4-20, 2022. The authoritarian country is accused of violating human rights, especially against minorities such as Uyghur Muslims.

Sending high-level delegations is a tradition

Human rights groups cite the autonomous regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong as examples of Chinese retaliation. Time and time again, calls to boycott the Winter Games there are loud. There is significant political tension between the United States and China over the human rights situation, and also because of many other controversial issues.

Sending high-ranking delegations to the Olympics has long been a tradition in the United States and other leading countries – President George W. Bush attended the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Australia, whose relations with China are at an all-time low due to a series of disagreements, has also raised the possibility of a diplomatic boycott.