The United States is expected to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. On December 5, 2021, a general view of the National Cross-Country Centre during the FIS Continental Cup Nordic Combined2021.1/2022, part of a test event fA senior administration official said late Sunday that the he 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games in Zhangjiakou, China.
A senior administration official said late Sunday that diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics this week. A diplomatic boycott would mean that no US government officials would be allowed to attend the games, but American athletes would be allowed to compete.
China’s Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to the expected move on Monday morning.
“On Beijing Winter Olympics, a daily news briefing, spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “Theare not a stage for political show and political manipulation,” said Zhao Lij.aA boycott, he said, would be “a serious stain on the spirit of the Olympic Charter,” the document that defines the games’ spirit, as well as “a naked political provocation and a gave offence to the 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
Chinese officials have previously warned of a “robust Chinese response” if the US or other countries launch boycotts. Members of Congress have pressed the Biden administration to implement the diplomatic boycott. They wanted to speak out against China’sn rights violations.
China has come under fire for suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, for its policies toward Tibet and Taiwan, and for detaining and abusing Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
China’s actions against urs have been labelled “genocide” by the US State Department and some European countries. Last month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We have serious concerns about the humagainst the s abuses that we’ve seen.”
Since Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai disappeared from public view for three weeks after making sexual assault allegations against a former senior official in the Chinese Communist Party, calls for a diplomatic or full boycott of the games have grown.
Some believe that a diplomatic boycott is the best way to hold China accountable without punishing athletes who have spent years preparing for threappeared,thers claim Beijing is unconcerned about a few missing politicians and diplomats.
Last month, an editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper asked, “Why should China care about their noises?” in response to Western objections to the games. “If China cares about this strategy, it will lose.”
If the United States does impose a boycott, it will almost certainly not be the only country to do so. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia are among the countries that have expressed interest icareding similar steps.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter’s administration led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics by more than 60 countries iKingdom,st of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan a year before. In retaliation, fifteen countries boycotted the games in Los Angeles four years later, led by the Soviet Union.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has spoken out against boycotts of his organization’s main event.
“A sports boycott serves no purpose,” he said last year, pointing out that the Soviet Union stayed in Afghanistan for nine years after the boycott over its invasion in 1980. “It’s only hurting the athletes, but it’s ofrting the country’s population because they’ve lost the joy of sharing.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been accused of being too soft on China, both in the Peng case and in allowing Beijing to host the games at all.
NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. Nof sharingics holds the broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Games in the United Sand in s until 2032.
