Winter Olympics 2022: No US official delegation to be sent to Beijing

The decision, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said is a result of China's crimes against humanity and ongoing genocide in Xinjiang.

Team Newsable

Washington D.C., First Published Dec 7, 2021, 11:33 AM IST | Last Updated Dec 7, 2021, 11:33 AM IST

There will be no official US delegation at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Joe Biden administration has announced. The decision, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said is a result of China's crimes against humanity and ongoing genocide in Xinjiang. The White House clarified that the US athletes will compete in the Olympics and that the boycott was only with regard to government officials attending the games. Similar policy will be enforced for the Paralympic Games, which are also taking place in Beijing.

Addressing the media briefing, Psaki said that the United States will not be 'contributing to the fanfare' of the Games even though the athletes on Team USA will have full support from home. She further said that Washington cannot see the Games as business as usual when the People's Republic of China carries out egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. The United States of America simply cannot do that, she said.

'As President (Joe Biden) told President Xi, standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans. We have a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights. We will continue to take actions to advance human rights in China and beyond,' she added. As for why the US athletes were being allowed to compete at the Winter Olympics, the White House official said that the athletes have been training hard for the Olympics and hence deserved to take part in the event.

Rejecting views that Beijing may resort to firm countermeasures in response to the decision taken by the United States, the White House Press Secretary said cooperation on transnational issues was not a favour to the United States. Reiterating that China must take action on issues raised by Washington, Psaki said that Beijing needs to be aware of the needs of the global community and address them. When asked about other measures that the White House was contemplating against the Chinese, the Press Secretary said a number of actions had already been taken, including via groupings like the G7 to send the message across that given the human rights abuses, one cannot proceed with business as usual.

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