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U.S. plans diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

FILE - A police officer wearing a face mask and goggles to protect against COVID-19, stands near a poster of a skier on the wall at a train station in Zhangjiakou in northern China
FILE - A police officer wearing a face mask and goggles to protect against COVID-19, stands near a poster of a skier on the wall at a train station in Zhangjiakou in northern China's Hebei Province, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. China is threatening to take “firm countermeasures" if the U.S. proceeds with a diplomatic boycott of February's Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday accused U.S. politicians of grandstanding over the issue of not sending dignitaries to attend the events that China hopes will showcase its economic development. (Mark Schiefelbein)
By Aamer Madhani Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses, the White House confirmed Monday – a move that China has vowed to greet with “firm countermeasures.”

“U.S. 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,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during Monday’s briefing.

She said that U.S. athletes will continue to compete and will “have our full support,” but added “we will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.”

“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,” Psaki added.

Biden this week will host a White House Summit for Democracy, a virtual gathering of leaders and civil society experts from more than 100 countries that is set to take place Thursday and Friday. The administration has said that Biden intends to use the convening “to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called such a diplomatic boycott “a necessary step to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to human rights in the face of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses.” He called on “other allies and partners that share our values to join with the United States in this diplomatic boycott.”

Australia, whose ties with China have nosedived over a range of disputes, has also raised the possibility of a diplomatic boycott.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused U.S. politicians of grandstanding over the issue of not sending dignitaries to attend events that China hopes will showcase its economic development and technological prowess.

Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing, Zhao said such a move would be an “outright political provocation,” but gave no details on how China might retaliate.

Human rights advocates and lawmakers in the U.S. who support a boycott say it is a necessary step. They cite China’s poor record on human rights as justification, saying China is using the games to whitewash its ill treatment of civil rights activists, political dissidents and ethnic minorities.

The dispatching of high-level delegations to each Olympics has long been a tradition among the U.S. and other leading nations. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush attended the opening of the Beijing Olympic Summer Games. .