WH announces diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics
During the White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki announced that U.S. will not send a diplomatic or official delegation to the 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic games, citing China’s “genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes will, however, participate in the games.
Video transcript
- Thank you. Perfect star on the Olympics and the diplomatic boycott. Several reports the president has decided to move forward with the move. Is that correct that he's come to this decision?
- The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games given the PR scenes ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and other human rights abuses. The athletes on Team USA have our full support. We will be behind them 100% as we cheer them on from home. We will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.
US diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC's egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. And we simply can't do that.
As the president has told President Xi standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans. We have a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights. And we feel strongly in our position. And we will continue to take actions to advance human rights in China and beyond.
