U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on May 18 that the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights violations are so serious that Washington should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in a diplomatic manner.
Pelosi said during a congressional hearing on May 18 that the national leaders attending the Beijing Winter Olympics do not have the moral authority to speak out on human rights issues.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the “Strategic Competition Act” against China on April 21 and added a number of amendments to its deliberations, one of which is aimed at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The U.S. intends to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics in a diplomatic manner.
The amendment, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Mitt Romney and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, is now part of the Strategic Competition Act.
The amendment, which targets China’s crackdown on human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, would not bar U.S. athletes from participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022, but would prohibit any official diplomatic delegation from attending.
President Joe Biden delivers a joint address to Congress as Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Pelosi stand and applaud on April 28, 2021. (Associated Press)
Romney criticized the IOC at the meeting as offensive and intolerable for allowing a “country that is committing genocide” to provide a platform for hosting the world. But because he does not want to punish athletes who have spent a lot of time training and preparing, he will still allow U.S. athletes to participate.
The amendment will be sent to the full Senate in May, along with the Strategic Competition Act, and is expected to have a good chance of passing.
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