China Calls The US Diplomatic Boycott Of 2022 Winter Olympics Dangerous To Cooperation: Definitely Will Fail!

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. (Twitter/@zlj517)

JAKARTA - China on Tuesday warned that the United States' diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics could undermine two-way dialogue and cooperation in key areas, calling for politics to be kept away from sports.

The move, pushed for months by several members of the US Congress and rights advocacy groups, comes just weeks after talks by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping aimed at easing tensions in relations between the two countries.

China opposes the boycott and will take "firm countermeasures", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

"The United States' plot to try to interfere with the Olympics is doomed to failure, leading to a loss of moral authority and credibility," Zhao said at a regular news conference in the Chinese capital, citing Reuters December 7.

He also urged the United States to stop bringing politics into the sport, adding that the boycott was against Olympic principles.

As previously reported, the White House said US government officials would boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because of China's human rights "cruelty", even though US athletes are free to travel there to compete, on Monday.

"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.

"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.

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.