New Delhi, Dec 7 : The US has announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China — a move that has been heavily criticised by Beijing, BBC reported.
The White House said no official delegation would be sent to the Games because of concerns about China’s human rights record, the report said.
But it said US athletes could attend and would have the government’s full support.
China called Washington’s move a “self-directed political farce”.
“The US just wants to politicise sports, create divisions and provoke confrontation,” said a statement by the spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the UN.”The Games’ success does not depend on the attendance of just a few countries’ officials,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the UN.Jen Psaki, the “
White House press Secretary, confirmed Monday’s boycott, saying that the administration would not support the “fanfare” of the Olympics.The report stated that .
“US diplomatic and official representation would treat these Games as normal in the face of the People’s Republic of China’s (People’s Republic of China’s) egregious human right abuses, atrocities, and atrocities in Xinjiang.”We simply cannot do that.”
Psaki added that the US government did not feel “it was the right step to penalise athletes who had been training for this moment”, but that not sending an official US delegation to the 2022 Games “could send a clear message”.
Following the US announcement, New Zealand said on Tuesday it too would not send a delegation.
Other countries, including the UK and Australia, are said to be considering boycotts, the report said.
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