German coalition party asks new government to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights

Activists from the European Tibetan Youth Association protest against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and call for an international boycott in front of the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, Dec. 11, 2021. AP- Jean-Guy Python

Germany’s coalition party has urged the new German government to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights issues. But it is unclear whether the new government will boycott the Winter Olympics.

Michel Brandt, spokesman for human rights policy of the CDU/CSU coalition party’s federal parliamentary group, which has just turned into an opposition party, asked the new government, led by Scholz, to conduct a political boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, German newspaper “Die Presse” reported. Brandt said to the newspaper “Kommersant”, “The new German government will show here for the first time whether human rights are important to them.”

He added: “It would be a scandal to present itself at the Olympics, a festival of peace and mutual understanding, next to the centralizer Xi Jinping, who allows torture and killing. Putin and others are fit to be there, but Western democrats should not go.”

There are also politicians in the ruling Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights issues.

The Mercury newspaper, published in Munich, reported Monday evening that the EU foreign ministers’ meeting did not agree on a boycott of the Winter Olympics. A joint EU boycott of the Olympics is becoming increasingly unlikely. France opposes the boycott, followed by Austria and Luxembourg. How Germany will decide is unclear. Green Party Foreign Minister Francois Berbock previously said he would seek a common EU line. On human rights issues, Berbock has taken a tougher stance on China than the previous German government. And she is open to a boycott. But she also said publicly that the Olympics should not be abused “for politics or rituals. Germany’s new Chancellor Scholz has not been clear on whether to boycott the Olympics. The boycott idea is splitting the European Union.

Meanwhile, German TV One announced Monday that it will provide extensive coverage of the Beijing event. German TV One” broadcast about 120 hours of programs. 500 hours of live coverage. Radio stations are offering full programs.” Germany’s TV One will cover the event in a common studio with TV Two. But the hosting will not take place in the host city because “the strict conditions imposed by the organizing committee and the Chinese state have led to a number of immeasurable problems, making it extremely difficult to host on site.”