The Biden administration will not send an official US delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a statement against China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
US athletes will still be allowed to compete in the Olympics, but the administration will not be sending government officials to the games. The same policy applies for the Paralympic Games, which are also taking place in Beijing.
The International Olympic Committee said the sending or not of officials was a “purely political decision for each government, which the IOC in its political neutrality fully respects.”
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China has come under fire for cracking down on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, for its policies toward Tibet and Taiwan, and for detaining and abusing Muslim Uyghurs in the country’s Xinjiang province.
Some Republican lawmakers, who have grown increasingly hawkish toward China, have been pressuring the Biden administration to boycott the 2022 Games or push for China’s host status to be revoked and for the Games to be moved. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., urged the administration last month to boycott the Games, including keeping U.S. athletes from competing.
The decision was broadly welcomed by rights groups and politicians in the US, where President Joe Biden has been under pressure to speak out against Chinese rights abuses.
(With inputs from agencies)
