Scores of Tibetan exiles organised a demonstration at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on Friday to protest the hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics by Beijing.
The protest was held just hours before the opening ceremony of the Games at Beijing’s National Stadium.
During the demonstration, protesters were seen burning a Chinese flag as they raised slogans condemning Beijing.
“We urge the international community to boycott the Winter Olympics in Beijing. We want people all over the world to condemn the human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang and Tibet (Autonomous Regions), as well as other parts of China,” said Gonpo Dhundup President Tibetan Youth Congress on the occasion.
The protest comes a day after the Indian Foreign Ministry announced that New Delhi’s top diplomat won’t be attending the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which will conclude on 20 February.
Back in November last year, New Delhi had expressed its “support” for Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics during a trilateral meeting involving the foreign ministers from China, India, and Russia.
However, India’s about-face on its November commitment was sparked by Beijing’s decision to make a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) solider who was involved in clashes at Galwan Valley one of the torchbearers this week.
Twenty Indian soldiers were killed when troops from China and India clashed in the Galwan Valley in the eastern Ladakh region in June 2020, the deadliest encounter between the two nations in over four decades. Recent media reports suggested that the Chinese side actually lost 42 soldiers, while officially saying only four died.
The clashes had occurred a month after the beginning of the military standoff in eastern Ladakh region, which remains unresolved.
“It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during his weekly briefing on 3 February.
Several Western nations, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the US, have already refused to send official representatives to the Winter Olympics as a mark of protest against China’s human rights record, including the alleged abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province.
China, in turn, has accused the countries which have diplomatically boycotted the Winter Olympics 2022 of “politicising" the sporting event.
“China has reiterated many times that the winter Olympics is not a stage for political posturing and manipulation," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in December.