Washington: Joe Biden has officially ruled out attending the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a symbol of the fight against genocide and crimes against humanity in China’s Xinjiang province.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that the Biden administration has decided not to send an official U.S. delegation to the Olympics.
However, American athletes will still participate in the Olympics. But the administration does not send government officials for sports. It has been decided that the government will not participate in the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
The decision comes as the United States registers its strong opposition to allegations of human rights abuses against Islamic people and other ethnic and religious minority groups in China’s western region of Xinjiang, Uyghur.
The United States wants to send a “clear message” that “relations between the two countries will not be as normal as usual” in the face of massive human rights abuses in China.
However, Jen Psaki said the administration would have “full support” for athletes who want to go to Beijing and compete in the Olympics.
Jen Psaki said the White House did not consider a complete boycott of the United States “absolutely right” because it would be a great disappointment to American athletes who have been training hard for years to prepare themselves for the Olympics if the United States decides to boycott the Olympics altogether. It is noteworthy that the United States completely boycotted the Olympics in 1980 when former President Jimmy Carter was in office.
The 2022 Winter Olympics were not discussed during a three-and-a-half-hour summit between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. This summit did not bring any major progress and nothing was expected in advance. Biden also raised concerns about human rights, the Chinese occupation of Taiwan and trade issues.
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