Highlighting Human Rights In Xinjiang And Hong Kong, Japan Does Not Send Government Delegation To Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Illustration of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Wikimedia Commons/N509FZ)

JAKARTA - Japan will not send a government delegation to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a government spokesman said Friday, a decision seen as in line with a US-led diplomatic boycott of China's humanitarian rights record in Xinjiang.

But Japanese athletes will attend the February games as scheduled, according to government sources. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Japan would send Seiko Hashimoto, a member of the Council's parliament and president of the organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics held last summer and two other envoys.

The Japanese government gave up on plans to send senior officials to the Beijing Olympics, as it has seen little improvement in the human rights situation in the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized the importance of human rights as the main pillar of Japan's diplomacy.

"We think it is important that universal values such as freedom, respect for human rights, and the rule of law are ensured in China," Matsuno said, citing Kyodo News December 24.

"We have made a decision by comprehensively considering these factors," he said.

However, Matsuno did not say the decision constituted a diplomatic boycott, telling a news conference that the government "does not have a specific term" to describe the move.

The announcement was made by Matsuno rather than PM Kishida, as Japan tries not to directly provoke the Chinese leadership, especially as Japan and China will mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations in 2022, according to the source.

Two other people who will attend the Games are the chairman of the Japanese Olympic Committee Yasuhiro Yamashita and the chairman of the Japanese Paralympic Committee Kazuyuki Mori.

The government seems to think Hashimoto's presence will strike a balance with China, which sent Gou Zhongwen, head of China's General Administration of Sports, to this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

Separately, there are growing calls within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for a diplomatic boycott, and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who met PM Kishida on Thursday, is believed to have urged Kishida to make an announcement quickly.

The United States and other countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada have announced similar measures. Meanwhile, China has criticized the United States and other countries for their actions regarding the Beijing Olympics, saying that politicizing the sport goes against the spirit of the Olympic Charter.