The Biden administration is contemplating diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights abuses in China, reports suggest. As per a report by the Washington Post, the US is pegged not to send a delegation to China where the games are just three months away in February 2022. As per the report, while the American athletes will take part in the games, the official delegation of the United States as well as state politicians will not attend the ceremony.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral virtual meeting where Biden is believed to have raised concerns about China’s practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly.
The decision to boycott the Olympics comes amid the increasing pressure on Biden administration by both, Democrats and Republicans, to convey a message of disapproval to the Chinese government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had also called for such a boycott as a move to protest against China’s abuses of human rights. A report by Guardian citing sources said that Biden administration is also contemplating informing its partners and allies about the boycott.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had stated that Washington and its allies are in “active conversations” about how to approach the Beijing Olympics. Meanwhile, experts have been critical of Biden administration of being late and delaying the boycott of Olympics games. Michael Mazza, an analyst from the American Enterprise Institute, said that a diplomatic boycott will do little about the situation of Uyghur Muslims in China.
However, the White House on Tuesday has declined to comment whether the boycott was planned for the game or not. Earlier it was reported that Xi will be inviting Biden to attend to Olympics games in February personally. However, the issue did not come up during the virtual summit.
