Australia will not send officials to Beijing Olympics, joining US diplomatic boycott

Canberra’s decision comes amid “disagreement” with China over a number of issues, including Australia’s foreign interference laws and a recent decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, Morrison said.

“Australia will not step back from the strong position we’ve had standing up for Australia’s interests, and obviously it is of no surprise that we wouldn’t be sending Australian officials to those Games,” he said.

The decision, which stopped short of preventing athletes from attending, comes a day after the United States announced its diplomatic boycott.

The US decision was taken over what Washington termed China’s genocide of the Uygur minority and other human rights abuses.