Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says diplomatic boycott is ‘pointless’

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei believes that boycotting the Winter Olympics is pointless and has harshly criticized the International Olympic Committee. “Today, many countries, including the United States and European countries, are offering a diplomatic boycott. Personally, I think this political boycott is pointless,” he told ZDF’s Height Journal. The 64-year-old said China “is now so self-confident that it is not afraid of it and will not show any weakness because of the boycott.” The West could not find a better way to negotiate economic or political deals with China. “The boycott has become a superficial gesture,” said the artist and critic of the Chinese Communist Party, who lives in Portuguese exile. The IOC uses “sport to a large extent in the sporting events of an authoritarian country”. While the government in China “mercilessly persecutes” the people and makes the Games “an internal party celebration of the system, the IOC has never criticized it. The IOC has always strived for higher profits and lost the Olympic spirit in the process,” hey said. Among other things, China has been criticized for human rights abuses in dealing with Uyghurs and Tibetans, threats against Taiwan and suppression of the democratic movement in Hong Kong.