(Headline USA) China‘s government warned the Biden administration on Wednesday not to boycott next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing after the White House said it was talking with allies about a joint approach to complaints of human rights abuses.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson rejected accusations of abuses against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
He warned of an unspecified “robust Chinese response” to a potential Olympics boycott.
“The politicization of sports will damage the spirit of the Olympic Charter and the interests of athletes from all countries,” said the government’s top propagandist, Zhao Lijian. “The international community including the U.S. Olympic Committee will not accept it.”
Zhao — who is still allowed to promote the lies of the brutal, oppressive government on Twitter — is perhaps most famous for blaming the origin of the coronavirus on the U.S. Army.
Human rights groups are protesting China’s hosting of the games, due to start in February 2022.
They have urged a boycott or other measures to call attention to accusations of Chinese abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans and residents of Hong Kong.
The U.S. State Department suggested an Olympic boycott was among the possibilities but a senior official said later a boycott has not been discussed.
The International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have said in the past they oppose boycotts.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the White House is not looking at a boycott of the 2022 Olympics — a stark contrast to Biden’s support of the removal of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Georgia over it’s allegedly “racist” election integrity law.
“We have not discussed, and are not discussing, any joint boycott with allies and partners,” she said.
When asked if the U.S. government would discourage Americans from traveling to China, Psaki said the Biden administration hopes that by the time of the event, “we are at a point where enough people across the country, and hopefully around the world have been vaccinated” against COVID-19.
Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.
