The United States announces its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games | Sports

06.12.2021, 21:34

| Reading time: 4 minutes

In protest of human rights abuses in China, the United States launched a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics announced. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday in Washington, the government President Joe Biden It will not send diplomatic or official representatives to the Olympic Games in China. The background is the “genocide” in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region and other human rights violations. American athletes must participate in the Games.

The US government She would cheer for American athletes from home, Psaki said. When asked why the United States has not decided to boycott the Games entirely, 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”. She stressed that the US government informed international partners of the decision and left them to make their own decisions.

The International Olympic Committee respects the decision of the US government

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

who – which International Olympic Committee (IOC) In an initial reaction, she described the government officials’ presence as “a purely political decision that the IOC fully respects in its political neutrality”. A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee said, referring to the United Nations resolution, which was adopted unanimously for all 193 members states.

Because of the human rights situation: Significant political tensions between the United States and China

This decision includes compliance with the Olympic Armistice Agreement of Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games and call on all Member States to work with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in conflict areas during and after the Olympic Games and beyond.

between The United States and China There is great political tension due to the human rights situation, but also due to various other issues. The relationship between the two countries has fallen to its lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979. Biden sees China as the strongest competitor and greatest geopolitical challenge to the United States.

“It’s a mockery of the Olympic spirit,” said Beijing.

It was already mid-November Biden He said he was considering a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games in China. After US media reported that the US government’s decision was imminent, Beijing responded with outrage and threatened “decisive countermeasures” – even before the official announcement was made by Washington.

“They are exaggerating the boycott issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian criticized on Monday, even before US politicians received an invitation. “It is a mockery of the Olympic spirit, a political provocation and an attack on 1.4 billion Chinese,” Zhao Lijian said in Beijing. Only the Chinese and the world will see the hypocrisy and anti-Chinese nature of American politicians more clearly. (dpa)