Australia will not send officials to Beijing Olympics, joining US diplomatic boycott
- The move comes amid ‘disagreement’ with China over various issues, including Australia’s foreign interference laws
- The decision, which stopped short of preventing athletes from attending, comes a day after a similar announcement by the US
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.
“There’s been no obstacle to that occurring on our side, but the Chinese government has consistently not accepted those opportunities for us to meet about these issues,” he said.
Over the last two years, China has introduced a raft of punitive sanctions on Australian goods in a fierce political dispute that has frozen ministerial contacts and plunged relations into the most serious crisis since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
Australian barley, coal, copper ore, cotton, hay, logs, rock lobsters, sugar, wine, beef, citrus fruit, grains, table grapes, dairy products and infant formula have all been subject to Chinese sanctions.
Australia’s move to equip its navy with nuclear-powered submarines under a new defence pact with Britain and the United States widely seen as an attempt to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific region also infuriated Beijing.