The Biden administration announced a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, citing China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang region. The U.S. athletes will still attend the games, the White House announced Monday.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a press briefing that “U.S. diplomatic or official representation would treat these Games as business as usual in the face of the PRC’s egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. And we simply can’t do that.”
The atrocities are “egregious,” indeed, since the Chinese government’s actions in Xinjiang have violated and continue to violate every single provision in the UN’s Genocide Convention, and include mass detentions, forced labor, torture, forced sterilization, and rape. The Biden State Department confirmed that on March 30, 2021.
In addition to that, the United States and its allies have repeatedly accused Beijing of infringing on Hong Kong’s freedoms. Recently, the Chinese regime has been under international scrutiny regarding Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has not been seen in public for weeks after making allegations of sexual assault against a former senior CCP official.
Should not the entire U.S. Olympic delegation boycott the games hosted by a criminal regime implicated in genocide and other atrocities?
It should not, according to the Biden administration.
“We believe U.S. athletes — people who have been training, giving up a lot of blood, sweat, and tears preparing for these Olympics — should be able to go and compete. And we look forward to cheering for them from home,” said Psaki while touting how “standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans” and how America has “a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights and we feel strongly in our position, and we will continue to take actions to advance human rights in China and beyond.” At the same time, not sending the athletes to the Olympics would only “penalize” those athletes, argued Psaki.
The press secretary stressed that the administration believes that not sending the U.S. officials was sufficient to send Beijing a “clear message” that the United States is “concerned” with the human-rights violations in China.
China blasted the United States for “bringing politics” into the Olympics and warned the move could harm relations between the countries.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington posted on social media that “In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the #Beijing2022 to be successfully held,” per Associated Press.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the boycott was based on “ideological prejudice, lies and rumors,” and “seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto ‘more united.'”
According to a U.S. News report, Zhao also stated that “the U.S. is flattering itself” by boycotting the games, when in fact Beijing has not even invited them to attend.
A mouthpiece for the CCP, Global Times, reported in late November that the CCP did not intended to invite any politicians “who hype[d] the ‘boycott’ of the Beijing Games.”
Following the White House’s announcement, Times posted that “To be honest, Chinese are relieved to hear the news, because the fewer US officials come, the fewer viruses will be brought in,” per U.S. News. “Only super narcissistic people will regard their absence as a powerful boycott,” added its editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin.
Numerous Republican lawmakers criticized the administration for such a moderate response to the ongoing crimes against humanity perpetrated by CCP, while the Democrats and some Republicans, such as Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), indicated that the “diplomatic” boycott is sufficient enough to “punish” Beijing, Fox News reported.
Earlier in November, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) urged the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) not to send Team USA athletes to compete in the Beijing Olympics. They wrote:
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a country plagued with violent suppression of free speech, state-sponsored oppression, and other human rights abuses. As Communist Chinese Party (CCP) authorities enjoy unchecked power and zero accountability, American athletes could face severe endangerment.
Their calls, however, fell on flat ears.
Senator Cotton blasted the “diplomatic boycott” as “half-measure,” stating the United States should fully boycott the “Genocide Games” in Beijing. He added, “American businesses should not financially support the Chinese Communist Party and we must not expose Team USA to the dangers of a repugnant authoritarian regime that disappears its own athletes.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it “respected” the U.S. decision: “The presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision for each government, which the IOC in its political neutrality fully respects. At the same time, this announcement also makes clear that the Olympic Games and the participation of the athletes are beyond politics, and we welcome this.”
Unfortunately for Uyghurs, Tibetans, Inner Mongolians, and Hong Kongers living in China, their suffering is apparently mere “politics” to the global elites and those running the Olympics.
