The United States Boycotts Diplomatic Of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, China Will Take Strict Retaliation

Beijing Winter Olympics illustration. (Screenshot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics official website)

JAKARTA - The United States will not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics because of China's human rights "cruelty," the White House said on Monday, after Beijing threatened unspecified "retaliatory action" against a diplomatic boycott.

President Joe Biden said last month he was considering such a boycott amid criticism of China's human rights record, including what Washington says is genocide against the Uighur Muslim minority in the western region of Xinjiang.

The move, despite recent efforts to stabilize ties with last month's video meeting between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, will further strain relations between the two superpowers, which have been at their lowest point in decades.

"President Biden's administration will not send diplomatic or official representatives to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in light of China's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told a daily news conference, citing Reuters December 7.

"The US diplomatic or official representatives will treat this game as business as usual, in the face of the appalling human rights violations and atrocities in Xinjiang, and we cannot do that," Psaki said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Winter Olympics venue illustration. (Source: Olympics.com)

However, the diplomatic boycott, which some members of the US Congress and rights advocacy groups have been pushing for months, will not affect American athletes' attendance, she said.

"The athletes at Team USA have our full support. We will support them 100 percent as we cheer them on from home," continued Psaki.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said the United States had been consulting with allies on a "joint approach" to the Beijing Olympics. It is not clear if they will follow the US lead.

"Canada remains deeply disturbed by disturbing reports of human rights abuses in China," the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"We were informed of the US decision and we will continue to discuss this matter with our partners and allies," the statement continued.

The diplomatic boycott also puts corporate Olympic sponsors in an 'awkward place', but it doesn't fit the US Government's imply they should cut ties, said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who has overseen a deal to acquire domestic TV rights for the Games.

"The most important issue (for sponsors) is whether the US team will attend," said Pilson.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at an earlier press briefing in Beijing that those calling for a boycott were "arrogant" and should be stopped "so as not to affect dialogue and cooperation between China and the United States in important areas."

"If the US insists on deliberately sticking to its path, China will take firm countermeasures," he stressed, without elaborating.

The United States will next host the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, raising questions about how China will respond in the interim.

Meanwhile, Beijing has said it opposes the politicization of the sport, but has punished American sports leagues in the past, including the National Basketball Association, for violating its political red lines.

China plans to limit audience attendance at the February Olympics, citing strict COVID-19 protocols, and Chinese state media says Beijing has no intention of inviting Western politicians who threaten to boycott.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only leader of a major country to have accepted China's invitation to attend. Other countries, including Australia and the UK, are reportedly considering their own boycott.