The Hill reported May 18 that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics scheduled for next year in Beijing to protest the Communist Party’s genocide of the Uighurs.
Some members of Congress have urged pulling the Olympics out of China (Communist Party) altogether, but Pelosi advocated less drastic measures, meaning the U.S. could send athletes but would not send any official delegation to the opening or closing ceremonies.
Senators Mitt Romney (R-Texas) and “Tim” Kaine (D-Vt.) have introduced legislation that would prohibit the government from spending any money to send a delegation to Beijing. The proposal has been added as an amendment to a package of anti-communist legislation being considered by the Senate this week, the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, which was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 21.
On Tuesday, Pelosi supported Romney and Kaine’s proposals at a hearing before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (LHRC). She advocated that the United States not send an official delegation to the Olympics, but allow athletes to compete in Beijing in 2022.
She added, “Let’s not show support for the athletes by having the head of state come to the Chinese (Republic) in this way. When the athletes return to their home countries, we can show them more respect and admiration.”
Pelosi warned that sending an official delegation could weaken U.S. efforts to sound the alarm about human rights abuses around the globe. Pelosi noted, “Going to countries where the head of state is committing genocide, paying homage to the Winter Olympics, that’s really a problem. What moral authority is there going forward to talk about human rights anywhere in the world?”
The California Democrat noted that the United States has recognized the Chinese Communist Party’s actions against the Uighurs, as genocide, and warned that failure to push back against the Communist Party’s repressive actions could lead to further abuses by the Communist Party.
Pelosi’s remarks come amid a debate over U.S. participation in next year’s Winter Olympics, where some say the United States should not send athletes at all. Pelosi’s statement could help prevent Congress from making a move to boycott the Olympics altogether, which would mean banning U.S. athletes from competing in the Winter Games. Such a politically fraught decision was last made by President Jimmy Carter, before the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
The Biden administration has expressed a desire to work out with allies the modalities for participation in the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
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