Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican representing Utah, wrote to the New York Times on March 15 that the United States should boycott the Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing next February because of the serious violations of human rights and freedoms by the Chinese Communist Party, and that the right way to do so is at the diplomatic and economic levels. He pointed out that a boycott of the Olympics that bans hundreds of U.S. athletes from participating would unfairly punish the athletes and would fail to achieve the goal of making the host country improve human rights.
U.S. senators propose a better way to boycott the Winter Olympics
“Let’s demonstrate our condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party in a way that hurts them, not our athletes: reduce their revenue from hosting the Olympics, stop their propaganda, and expose their evil deeds.” He wrote in the article.
Romney previously served as chairman and executive director of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA. His recommendations included not participating in the games and not spending money so that the Chinese Communist Party would not be able to generate huge amounts of revenue from the American public’s spending on hotels, meals and tickets. In addition, he suggested that instead of sending a delegation of officials, the government should invite Chinese dissidents, religious leaders and ethnic minorities to represent the United States at the games. He also suggested working with NBC not to broadcast extreme patriotic content at the Winter Olympics, replacing it with coverage documenting human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.
U.S. Senator Mitt Romney recently said that the right way to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics is to start with diplomacy and economics, rather than punishing the country’s athletes by demanding cancellation of participation. (AP)
Human Rights Groups Criticize Olympic Committee for Ignoring China’s Human Rights Record, Demand Transfer of Venue
In addition to calls for governments to boycott the Olympic Winter Games, many human rights groups are calling for a relocation of the games. Several human rights groups rallied in front of the White House on Wednesday (17), ahead of a high-level meeting between the U.S. and China on the 18th, to urge the U.S. government to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Frances Hui, founder of We The Hongkongers, one of the founding organizations, told our Cantonese team that they have begun contacting U.S. organizations and have now received more than 30 signatures demanding that the U.S. government boycott the 2022 Olympic Games. The U.S. government should boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Xu Yingting said they are calling for a boycott of the “Beijing Winter Olympics” hosted by the Chinese Communist Party and are asking the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move the 2022 Winter Olympics to a different host country, not to boycott the games and punish the athletes.
“We very much welcome having an Olympics in other countries that are not under totalitarian rule. The Chinese Communist Party now clearly has genocide, ethnic cleansing (practices), and all kinds of human rights suppression, so clearly the IOC and the international community have seen it, so why pick the Chinese Communist Party?” Xu Yingting told the station.
As for Romney’s strategy, Xu thinks it is “unrealistic”. She noted that it would be difficult for countries to boycott only economically or diplomatically, as it would be difficult to make any impact given the level of Chinese consumption and the relationship between the Chinese authorities and multinational corporations.
Xu Yingting said she and several human rights activists met with IOC personnel last year and made a request to move the venue for the Winter Olympics. She said the IOC turned a blind eye to the fact that the Chinese Communist Party was cracking down on human rights, and even planned to purchase vaccines from mainland China to provide to the participants, turning a deaf ear to the protests of international human rights groups.
On March 12, Xu Yingting and several human rights representatives who had met with Olympic Committee officials held a press conference to explain the results of the meeting to the media. During the meeting, Xu mentioned that the Commission had only responded to the human rights repression in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong by saying, “This is a complex issue. IOC President Thomas Bach also said on the same day that a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics would only punish the athletes.
However, not all athletes remained silent. Mikaela Shiffrin, a well-known American alpine skier, said in an interview with CNN earlier this month that the poor human rights records of some Olympic host countries have forced athletes to choose between their professionalism and ethics. Xu Yingting told CNN that she was concerned about the safety of athletes like Chevrin who have spoken out publicly if the Winter Olympics were held in Beijing.
We The Hongkongers, a member of the Hong Kong people’s group, speaks at a rally outside the White House to urge the U.S. to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Photo by Huo Liangqiao)
Former assistant of Chi-Ying Lai: Athletes can speak out for human rights at the Olympics
Matt Simon, former senior assistant to One Media Hong Kong founder Jimmy Lai, told the station that if the Beijing Olympics are a must, the most effective way to promote Western democratic values is to call on participating athletes to speak out on behalf of human rights in China and through the Olympic stage, where the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to consolidate its position in the world.
“If the entire American professional soccer league can get down on one knee and protest for ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM), why can’t the Olympic team protest for Hong Kong and the Uighurs?” Simon explained, “What can China do? There’s nothing they can do. They can’t do anything about these athletes, do they dare to disqualify these athletes?”
Previously, Simon had tried to lobby for a move of the Olympic site to the United States, though he admits this approach is not very feasible. He said the most effective approach would be to call on athletes traveling to compete to demonstrate in public that they are not afraid, which is the most dangerous thing for the CCP to do.
“The Chinese Communist Party wants an applause and a feast, and what they fear most is people who are not afraid.” He said.
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