Biden White House to Reportedly Announce Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics
01:44 GMT 06.12.2021 (Updated: 04:20 GMT 06.12.2021)
© REUTERS / THOMAS PETER
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Last month, US President Joe Biden announced that his administration was mulling a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. The announcement came months after US lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), expressed bipartisan support for the protest.
As the 2022 Winter Olympics approach, the Biden administration is expected to unveil the US government's diplomatic boycott of the games later this week, according to a Sunday report from CNN, citing "several sources".
The partial boycott comes in opposition to allegations of human rights violations by the Chinese government, and only applies to US government officials who traditionally attend the international games.
Olympians competing under the US flag will not be impacted by the demonstration.
Washington has not imposed a full boycott since then-President Jimmy Carter's administration totally withdrew the US from the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.
The report comes days after the United Nations General Assembly moved to adopt an "Olympic Truce" drafted by Beijing and the International Olympic Committee. The goodwill resolution was co-sponsored by 173 countries, many of which expressed their support for the games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On December 2, the 76th session of #UNGA adopted the resolution on Olympic Truce for the #BeijingWinterOlympics that is co-sponsored by 173 countries. pic.twitter.com/5kpF0t55VO
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) December 4, 2021
Participating nations have been urged to observe the resolution from seven days before the opening ceremony to seven days after the closing of the 2022 Olympic Games, as well as the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
Though US officials may not attend the Winter Games, it may be business as usual for many major American corporations.
On November 30th, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told US business executives that Beijing hopes American corporations "make a positive contribution" to the 2022 Olympic Games, scheduled to begin on Friday, February 4th, and running until the Sunday, February 20th, closing ceremony.
"Boycotting the Olympics for political reasons harms the interests of athletes, violates the shared ideals and aspirations of the international society, and is unpopular", Xie told attendees of the virtual conference, attended by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, and the US-China Business Council.
The 2022 Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to run from Friday, March 4th, through Sunday, March 13th.
The National Security Council has been holding private talks about a possible diplomatic boycott as Democratic and Republican members of Congress have expressed support for the protest. Biden notably announced consideration for the move last month.
At the same time, some US lawmakers - like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) - have been urging the US to handle the upcoming games like any other.
"We've got young men and young women, Americans who spent their whole lives practicing for this moment. I don't want to punish those young athletes", Cruz said last month.
He also chastised the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and US-based companies like Nike for turning a blind eye to allegations of human rights atrocities allegedly carried out by the Chinese government.
22 November 2021, 01:04 GMT
Diplomatic boycott discussions accelerated last month after several nations, as well as the IOC, expressed concern for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who disappeared from public view shortly after alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Those fears have been partially tamed after the tennis star reemerged at a Beijing tennis tournament and held brief talks with OC President Thomas Bach and other key members.
