Calls for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics are growing in the West due to the Communist Party’s poor human rights record. Some media outlets on Wednesday (7) quoted U.S. officials as confirming that the U.S. side has raised the idea of boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics on several occasions. Earlier, a State Department spokesman had said that the U.S. was in discussions with allies to find a coordinated approach to the Beijing Winter Olympics. But the claim was denied by a senior U.S. State Department official.
The Financial Times of London reported Wednesday that a U.S. ally official said Biden’s team repeatedly raised the idea (of a boycott) in preliminary talks about the Beijing Olympics as part of broader discussions on how to deal with the Communist Party.
The official stressed, however, that those talks had not yet reached a detailed conclusion, did not involve top government officials and were unsure whether the boycott would be carried out by government representatives or would prevent athletes from participating in the Winter Olympics.
Asked a day earlier at a regular press conference whether the Biden administration was discussing a joint boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics with allies, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “That’s certainly something we would like to discuss.”
“We certainly understand that a coordinated approach is not only in our interest, but in the interest of our allies and partners.” Price added. He declined, however, to say when the Biden administration might make a decision.
At about 3:10 p.m. that day, Price tweeted that “no pronouncements have been made” on the Beijing Olympics, “but we will continue to consult closely with our allies and partners to determine our shared concerns.”
(Screenshot of tweet)
However, in an emailed statement sent to Consumer News & Business Channel (CNBC) on Tuesday evening, a senior State Department official said instead, “Our position on the 2022 Winter Olympics has not changed. We have not and will not discuss a joint boycott with our allies and partners.”
Calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics have been growing as a result of the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing human rights abuses, particularly the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, which has drawn intense international attention. The Trump administration has designated the Communist Party’s actions in Xinjiang as “genocide,” an assessment that has been endorsed by Biden administration officials.
A group of Republicans has called for the Olympics to be removed from China and for the United States to boycott the event if it fails to do so. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said last month that the administration is “listening to concerns from around the world” about the Beijing Games.
Last week, Republican Senator Rick Scott wrote to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking him to speak out for moving the Olympics out of China. Scott also wrote to President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, among others, about the issue.
“Under no circumstances should the international community provide the Chinese Communist Party with an international platform to whitewash its crimes.” Scott said in a letter to Biden.
But Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Texas) recently pointed out that banning U.S. athletes from the Olympics is not the right answer, and that it would hurt trained athletes. He argued that there should be an economic and diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics and that Americans should also stay home to watch the games “to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from generating huge revenues from hotels, meals and tickets.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Feb. 25 that the United States had not made a “final decision” on the country’s participation in the Games, adding that it would seek “guidance from the U.S. Olympic Committee. However, the U.S. Olympic Committee said in response to Psaki’s comments that the body opposes a boycott of the event, a position shared by Canada and the British Olympic Committee.
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