US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that his administration was considering a diplomatic boycott of the coming Winter Olympics in Beijing as a mark of protest against China's human rights record.
A diplomatic boycott would mean US officials keep away from the event, but athletes would attend. The Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on February 4. “The U.S. and other nations traditionally send high-level delegations to each Olympics. First Lady Jill Biden led the American contingent to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year and second gentleman Doug Emhoff led a delegation to the Paralympic Games,” Associated Press reported.
Biden spoke about the Winter Olympics after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House. When asked by a reporter about the possibility of a diplomatic boycott, Biden responded it was “something we’re considering”.
The demand for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics has been made by human rights groups for months, citing China's poor record against the Uyghurs and its crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Some groups had dubbed the event the “Genocide Games” and demanded the International Olympic Committee postpone or relocate it.
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In April, the US State Department said the Biden administration was reaching out to allies to discuss ways to protest against China's human rights record at the Winter Olympics. Earlier this week, Josh Rogin, an expert on China policy, wrote in The Washington Post that Biden could approve a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics before the end of November.
“The Biden administration has upheld its predecessor’s determination that China’s mass incarceration and forced sterilisation of its Muslim Uyghur population constitutes genocide. It has also been critical of the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and repressive measures in Tibet. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Biden raised human rights abuses in his summit with Xi [Chinese President Xi Jinping],” The Guardian reported.
