US could boycott Beijing Olympics over China’s human rights records: State Department

DHARAMSALA, 7 April: The US State Department has declared that the US and its allies are weighing a joint boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Hinting that the US is in consultations with allies discussing whether to consider or plan some sort of joint boycott of the Beijing Olympics, the US State Department spokesman Ned Price has said at a press briefing that “Part of our review of those Olympics and our thinking will involve close consultations with partners and allies around the world,” he told reporters.

It is something that we certainly wish to discuss and that it is certainly something that we understand that a coordinated approach will be not only in our interests but also in the interests of our allies and partners. So this is one of the issues that is on the agenda both now and going forward, and when we have something to announce, we will be sure to do that,” Price added.

The spokesman further highlighted “Beijing’s egregious human rights violations” and “genocide” of Uighurs  and declared that a united front to tackle China with its “allies and partners will have all the more influence with Beijing.”

“So clearly, we are coordinating on all of these issues of concern, and, of course, the Beijing Olympics is an area that we will continue to discuss,” Price concluded.

However, following the remarks by the US State Department spokesman, a senior official from the  Department has denied that “it was considering a joint boycott alongside allies of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.”

“Our position on the 2022 Olympics has not changed. We have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners,” CNBC quoted an unnamed senior official as saying in its report.

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games are scheduled to be held over on 4-20 Feb next year, but calls to boycott it continues to get steam.

Earlier in March, the former US ambassador to United Nations,  Nikki Haley has called on the US to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

Leading Tibetan NGOs along with a coalition of 180 rights groups across the world representing Tibet, Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, Hongkonger, Taiwanese, and Chinese people, along with other international human rights organisations declared that hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, legitimises China’s human rights abuses as they called on governments around the world to boycott the Olympics after their plea to the IOC to move the games fell before deaf ears in February.

Last month, the Tibetan parliament in exile unanimously approved by a resolution at its 10th session on the 18th of March calling on the Tibetan cabinet, the parliament as well as all governmental and non-governmental Tibetan entities to launch a worldwide campaign of protests against the Beijing Olympics.