The International Olympic Committee (IOC) “respects” the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games (February 4-20, 2022) announced this Monday by USA, and welcomes the fact that this “political” decision does not call into question the participation of american athletes.
“The presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision of each government, which the IOC, in its political neutrality, fully respects,” a spokesman for the Olympic body told AFP on Monday.
The United States will not send any diplomatic representatives to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games due to “genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang“announced the White House this Monday.
By being present, “the US diplomatic representation would treat these Games as if nothing had happened, despite the flagrant violations of human rights and the atrocities of China in Xinjiang. And we simply cannot do that,” said the spokeswoman for the House. White, Jen Psaki.
With this boycott, no representative of the United States government will attend the Olympic or Paralympic Games, but athletes from that country will participate in both competitions.
“The Team USA athletes have our full support. We will be 100% behind them as we cheer on them from here,” said Jen Psaki.
For months, the US government has been looking for the best way to position itself on the Winter Games, a popular and planetary event organized from February 4 to 20, 2022 by a country it accuses of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Uighur Muslims from Xinjiang, northwest China.
Several human rights organizations accuse Beijing of having interned at least one million Muslims in “re-education camps” in Xinjiang.
Before the White House announcement, China warned on Monday that it would take “countermeasures” in case the United States – as happened later – decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing winter games.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx