Snow need for it: China

AUSTRALIA’S diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics has been slammed by China’s embassy in Canberra as unhelpful to mending relations between the nations.

Scott Morrison on Wednesday confirmed Australia will follow the lead of the US and not send officials to the games, due to start in February.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy said the move was “political posturing”.

“The blame for the current predicament of China-Australia relations lies squarely on the Australian side,” the statement said. “The Australian side’s statement that it will not send officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics runs counter to its publicly pronounced expectation to improve ChinaAustralia relations.”

Australian athletes will still be able to attend the games but diplomats and politicians will be told to stay at home. That includes Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose attendance at the Tokyo Olympics earlier in the year raised eyebrows.

Speaking in Sydney, Mr Morrison said the breakdown of the relationship between Australia and China was a concern, as were the ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghur community.

“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 these issues and there’s been no obstacle to that occurring on our side,” he said. “But the Chinese government has consistently not accepted those opportunities for us to meet about these issues. So it is not surprising that Australian government officials would, therefore, not be going to China for those Games. Australian athletes will, though.”

Earlier this week, the US announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games, which White House press secretary Jen Psaki said was about sending a “clear message” to China.

In a statement, Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll sought to alleviate concerns that athletes could be impacted.

“We are heartened by the Prime Minister’s support for our team and we thank the government for its assistance with arrangements to ensure our athletes can travel to Beijing and represent their country with pride,” he said. “Our Australian athletes have been training and competing with this Olympic dream for four years now and we are doing everything in our power to ensure we can help them succeed.

“Human rights are extremely important, but the considered view of diplomats is that keeping channels of communication open is far more impactful than shutting them.”

The man who brought home Australia’s first ever Winter Games gold, Steven Bradbury, warned the boycott should not come at the expense of the athletes.

“The world’s stand on China has changed significantly in the last few years, and I believe that we do need to stand up to them, for sure,” he told Sky News.

“But athletes should definitely not suffer for that. Athletes should not be used as pawns in a political game.”