US Diplomats To Boycott Beijing Winter Olympic Games 2022

Washington: The White House has announced that the United States (US) will boycott the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 scheduled to be held in Beijing.

The US will also refrain from sending an official delegation to the games.

However, US athletes would not be barred from participating in the mega event and the US Government will fully support them. Last month, US President Joe Biden hinted towards this move. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday confirmed the boycott of the games saying that the Biden administration would not contribute to the "fanfare" of the Winter Olympic Games.

"US diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC's [People's Republic of China] egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. We simply can't do that," Psaki said in a statement.

The Press Secretary further added that it would not be fair to prohibit the athletes from participating in the games as they have been preparing for this moment with full dedication and hard work. He also said that the government felt that it was not the right step to penalize athletes.

However, Washington believes that not sending an official diplomatic delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games could send a clear-cut message to Beijing.

Prior to this decision, China had warned of ramifications by stating that it would not hesitate to "resolute countermeasures" if any boycott were to take place.

The move to boycott the games comes in the wake of China's record of human rights abuses. The Western bloc is deeply concerned by the persecution of people, who are critical of Bejing. They accuse China of violating freedom of speech and expression.

The North-Western province of Xinjiang is a prime example. China is systematically oppressing the Uighur Muslims, who reside in this province by forcibly sending them to detention centres, where they are subjected to varying degrees of torture. 

Although, China has vehemently denied these accusations, however, satellite images are proving this claim.

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