A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded Tuesday to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Zhao Lijian said China “deplores and rejects” the boycott, “and will take resolute countermeasures.” The video above shows Psaki making the announcement.
“The U.S. action seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto ‘more united,’” Lijan said at a news briefing Tuesday. “The U.S. side should stop politicizing sports, and stop disrupting and hampering the Beijing Winter Olympics with words and deeds, otherwise it will undermine the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in a series of important areas and international and regional issues.”
Psaki’s announcement of the Winter Olympics diplomatic boycott came at her daily news briefing Monday. She said the Biden administration will fully support U.S. athletes competing at the Games but won’t dispatch diplomats or officials to attend “given the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” Alleged abuses include those against Muslim Uyghurs, suppressing democratic movements in Hong Kong, committing military aggression against the self-ruled island of Taiwan and more.
“As the president has told President Xi, standing up for human rights is in the DNA of Americans,” Psaki said Monday. “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.”
The diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics brings the U.S. in line with, while not going as far as, some human rights groups who have called for a full blown boycott of the Games. Meanwhile, other major countries have yet to say if they will follow the American lead.
“We have informed them of our decision and obviously we will leave it to them to make their own decisions,” Psaki said.