Americans favour diplomatic boycott of Olympics and view China negatively, Pew poll shows

Name: Australia, Britain, Canada join US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights
Uploaded: 2022-02-01T21:50:18.000Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: Australia, Britain, Canada join US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights

Almost 90 per cent of people surveyed in January see China as a competitor or an enemy

‘The shift is caused by China’s actions under Xi, the repression at home, the more aggressive approach abroad,’ says former US ambassador

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The US announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in December to protest Chinese human rights abuses. Photo: Xinhua

Mark Magnierin New York

Published: 5:50am, 2 Feb 2022

Americans support a US diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics by a two-to-one margin – even though most are not versed in the details – while almost 90 per cent see China as a competitor or an enemy, according to a Pew Research report released on Tuesday.

The results dovetailed with a host of polls in recent years as Americans and residents of other developed nations grow increasingly wary of a more assertive China. Tuesday’s report was in line with Americans’ view over the past year: 54 per cent saw China as a competitor, 35 per cent as an enemy and 9 per cent as a partner.

“It doesn’t surprise me. It’s really turned in recent years,” said Winston Lord, a US ambassador to China in the 1980s. “I think it’s somewhat encouraging that more people say competitor before enemy. It shows some realism, that they don’t want an outright enemy.”

US President Joe Biden’s administration announced the Olympic boycott in December to protest Chinese human rights abuses amid reports that some 1 million ethnic Uygurs have been used as forced labour and held in camps in Xinjiang, which China characterises as employment centres.

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Australia, Britain, Canada join US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights

Under a diplomatic boycott, US government officials or representatives will not attend the Games. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Denmark have joined the official protest, while other countries said they would not attend even as they stopped short of mentioning human rights.