China: Boycott violates spirit of competition
BEIJING — China accused the United States of violating the Olympic spirit Tuesday after the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games over human rights concerns.
Rights groups have pushed for a full-blown boycott of the Games, accusing China of rights abuses against ethnic minorities. The U.S. decision falls short of those calls but comes at an exceptionally turbulent time for relations between the powerhouse nations and was met with a barrage of criticism from China.
The U.S. is attempting to interfere with the Beijing Games “out of ideological prejudice and based on lies and rumors,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters.
The boycott “seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto ‘more united,’ ” Zhao said.
As he did the previous day, Zhao vowed that China would respond with “resolute countermeasures” but offered no details.
“The U.S. will pay a price for its practices. You may stay tuned for follow-ups,” Zhao said.
Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Biden administration will fully support U.S. athletes competing at the Games but won’t dispatch diplomats or officials to attend.
Psaki said the U.S. has a “fundamental commitment to promoting human rights” and that it “will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games.”
The diplomatic boycott comes as the U.S. attempts to thread the needle between stabilizing difficult relations with Beijing and maintaining a tough stance on trade and political conflicts. The U.S. has accused China of human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in northwest Xinjiang province, suppressing democratic movements in Hong Kong, committing military aggression against the self-ruled island of Taiwan and more.
Beijing has denounced U.S. criticisms and punitive sanctions as interference in its internal affairs and slapped visa bans on American politicians it regards as anti-China.
Zhao warned the U.S. to “stop politicizing sports” and cease what he said were actions undermining the Beijing Winter Olympics, “otherwise it will undermine the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in a series of important areas and international issues.”
People on the streets of Beijing were overall dismissive of the U.S. move.
“I don’t think it matters at all if they would come or not. The Olympic Games are not about one country or a couple of countries,” said coffee shop employee Deng Tao.
“Such remarks from someone we never invited are simply a farce. And I don’t think it will have much impact on the holding of the Winter Olympics,” Lu Xiaolei, who works in trade.
Australia on Wednesday became the first major country to say it will follow the American lead with a diplomatic boycott of its own. New Zealand on Tuesday said it won’t be attending the games at a diplomatic level but that it made the decision mostly to pandemic travel restrictions.
“The human rights abuses in Xinjiang and many other issues that Australia has consistently raised, we have been very pleased and very happy to talk to the Chinese government about,” said Australia prime minister Scott Morrison. “But the Chinese government has consistently not accepted those opportunities for us to meet about these issues,” he said, adding that it shouldn’t be a surprise that Australian officials “would, therefore, not be going to China for those games.”
Amid the calls for a boycott, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his country would make its own decision “from the perspective of national interests, taking into consideration the significance of the Olympic Games and the significance of Japan’s diplomacy.”