The White House has officially announced U.S. plans for a diplomatic boycott of Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics, according to CNBC. American athletes may still attend the games, but President Joe Biden’s administration will not send any representatives.
Citing China’s reported abuse of Uighur Muslims in the country’s northwestern territory, Biden administration officials said the boycott is necessary in light of “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki made the announcement to reporters yesterday.
“The athletes on Team USA have our full support. We will be behind them 100 percent as we cheer them on from home,” Psaki said. “As the president has told President Xi, standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans,” Psaki said. “We have 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.”
The decision has been met with bipartisan support. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said the boycott is “a necessary step to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to human rights in the face of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses,” according to The Chicago Tribune.
Chinese officials sharply criticized the move. The country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called it a “political provocation.”
Australia is also considering a diplomatic boycott of the Games, which will take place between February 4-20 of next year.
