Japan mulls not sending ministers to Beijing Olympics: sources

Japan’s actions would see it side with the US, along with countries including Australia, Britain and Canada, while stopping short of being a diplomatic boycott, the sources said

The development comes as Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on the need to fortify their countries’ alliance, at the sidelines of a G7 meeting

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Published: 11:00pm, 11 Dec 2021Updated: 11:38pm, 11 Dec 2021

Japan is considering not sending Cabinet ministers to next year’s Beijing Olympics in line with a US-led diplomatic boycott amid rising criticism over China’s human rights record, government and ruling coalition sources said on Saturday.

Japan’s actions would see it side with the United States, along with countries including Australia, Britain and Canada, while stopping short of actually being a diplomatic boycott, the sources said.

Various options are being mulled including sending Seiko Hashimoto, president of the organising committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and a member of the House of Councillors, or Japanese Olympic Committee head Yasuhiro Yamashita, the sources said.

Keeping in mind the positions of the G7 industrialised nations and tensions between China and the US, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may decide on the matter before year-end, the sources said.

In a break from other G7 nations, France has said it will send high-level officials to the Winter Olympics in February. Paris is due to host the Summer Games in 2024.

Members of Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party have been urging him to swiftly make a decision. He has said Japan will decide whether to join the diplomatic boycott based on its “national interests”.

A protester displays a sign against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Tokyo on December 11, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Japan is considering explaining that its stance to send representatives, but not ministers, is not a diplomatic boycott, as it seeks to strike a balance in dealing with the US, its key security ally, and China, its largest trading partner, according to the sources.