Politicians push Beijing Winter Olympics ‘diplomatic boycott’ across 11 Western countries
- Elected representatives across Europe and North America call for governments to decline invitations to February’s Games
- Campaign follows rights groups’ calls for a full boycott over human rights infringements in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, charges denied by Beijing
A group of politicians across Europe and North America launched coordinated legislative actions on Monday, calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Spanning 11 countries and parliaments, the actions aim to pressure governments, elected officials and heads of state to decline invitations to next year’s Games, citing “gross violations of human rights” by the Chinese government.
In the United States, a resolution supported by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Gregory Meeks, calls for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to instigate emergency measures to find a replacement venue, “given ongoing crimes against humanity committed by the host government”.
At the European Parliament, 10 members will submit a parliamentary question to the European Council asking whether the EU should send a delegation to the Games, but also to “issue advice” to European corporate sponsors of the event.
In Italy, a motion calls for broadcasters to devote programming time to coverage of human rights issues in China, while a Swiss lawmaker’s interpellation to its Federal Council will ask for guarantees to be sought on press freedoms for media covering the Games.