United States Announces Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

The United States will send its athletes but no diplomatic representatives to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics due to human rights violations by China, the White House announced on Monday despite warnings from the Asian country.

By being present, "the US diplomatic representation would treat these Games as if nothing had happened, despite the flagrant violations of human rights and China's atrocities in Xinjiang. And we simply cannot do that," said the House spokeswoman. Blanca,

.

China had previously warned that it would take "countermeasures" if the United States resorted to such a boycott, calling it "boastful".

"If the United States wants to do things its way at all costs, China will take firm countermeasures," said Foreign Ministry spokesman

"I insist that the Winter Olympics are not a setting for political stance and manipulation," he added.

With this boycott, no representative of the United States government will attend the Olympic or Paralympic Games, but American athletes will participate in the competitions.

"The Team USA athletes have our full support. We will be 100% behind them as we cheer on them from here," said Psaki.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) welcomed that Washington's "political" decision did not call into question the participation of American athletes.

"The presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision of each government, which the IOC, in its political neutrality, fully respects," a spokesman for the Olympic body told AFP on Monday.

"Blank check to Beijing"

The State Department said diplomatic personnel would be present in Beijing "to assure our athletes, coaches and individuals associated with the United States Olympic team that they are safe."

Which represents "a different issue from official diplomatic representation," according to spokesman

.

For months, the United States government was looking for the best way to position itself regarding the Winter Games, a popular and global event organized from February 4 to 20, 2022 by a country it accuses of perpetrating a "genocide" against Muslims. Uighurs in Xinjiang, northwest China.

The Chinese authorities systematically denounce "interference" by Westerners who condemn this situation, claiming that they are "vocational training centers" to support employment and fight religious extremism.

Following the White House announcement, several US politicians welcomed this boycott.

"The past three decades of abuse and repression by Beijing show that the international community can no longer sign a blank check in Beijing and expect its behavior to simply change," said House Democratic Leader

.

On the Republican side,

said he was "happy that the

administration

has finally decided not to send officials to the Beijing Games," an "obvious choice for some time" according to him.

He also calls on President Biden to urge US allies to join this boycott, in order to "deny the propaganda value of this event for the Chinese Communist Party."

Justice for survivors

For

, director for China of the NGO Human Rights Watch, this boycott represents "a crucial stage to confront the Chinese state with its crimes against humanity directed against Uighurs and Turkish-speaking populations."

"But it shouldn't be the only action," he added.

"The United States should now redouble its efforts with states aligned on the issue to investigate and determine the best avenues for holding those responsible for these crimes to account and bringing justice to the survivors."

The United States Olympic Committee, for its part, opposes a total boycott, explaining that the Games are important after months of pandemic.

In the past, he argued, the boycott of the Moscow-1980 Games by the United States and some 60 other countries, and of Los Angeles-1984 by the Soviet Union and its allies, had shown that using those events as a "political instrument." it was a "mistake".

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