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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Joe Biden says US considering diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics

  • The US president’s comment came as he sat down for a meeting with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau
  • The White House said on Thursday that its upcoming decision on the Olympics had nothing to do with the Biden-Xi virtual summit

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Visitors take photos of a statue of figure skaters with the Olympic rings at a park near the headquarters of the Beijing organising committee for the Olympic Games. Photo: AP
Jacob Fromerin Washington
US President Joe Biden revealed that he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, as pressure from Congress intensifies over China’s suspected human rights abuses against the Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups in the far-west Xinjiang region.

It is “something we are considering”, Biden said on Thursday, as he sat down for a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – the clearest indication yet that the administration may end up taking the rare step of refusing to send any government officials to an Olympic Games.

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President Joe Biden says US considering diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics

President Joe Biden says US considering diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
Any form of boycott against Beijing’s upcoming Olympics, set to begin on February 4, would be almost certain to infuriate Communist Party leaders in Beijing.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that China does not allow foreign interference in Xinjiang and it is wrong to politicise the Games.

“The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and the Paralympics are the stage for athletes from all over the world,” he said. “Politicising sports is against the Olympic spirit and harms the interests of athletes from all countries”.

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Biden’s comment comes just days after he spent three and a half hours in a virtual meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, amid soaring tensions over trade, human rights, nuclear proliferation and the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
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