Beijing Winter Olympics: France will not boycott, says minister, but others seek a united EU front
- On Wednesday, Canada and Britain announced diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, joining the US and Australia
- Canadian foreign minister says ‘agents’ will be in place in China to ensure the safety of Canadian athletes during the Games in February
Le Drian, who held a joint news conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Paris on Thursday, spoke soon after French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said France would not joint the boycott initiated by the United States.
Asked about the boycott announced by the US as well as Australia, Britain and Canada, Blanquer told RMC radio and BFM television that France “won’t do it”.
02:34
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“We need to be careful about the link between sports and politics,” Blanquer said during the interview.
“Sports is a world apart that needs to be protected from political interference. If not, things can get out of control and it could end up killing all of the competitions.”
Blanquer said he would not travel to Beijing but junior sports minister Roxana Maracineanu will represent the French government.
Baerbock, meanwhile, also said Europe needed to find a common response on the issue of a diplomatic boycott of February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was “deeply troubled” by Chinese rights violations.
Also on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said no British government representatives would attend the Games.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said countries that boycotted the Games would pay a price for their “mistaken acts”.
“The United States, Britain and Australia have used the Olympics platform for political manipulation,” Wang told a regular news conference.
02:29
US announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics, expects other countries to follow
New Zealand this week said it would not send any diplomatic representation, but did not describe this as a boycott, instead citing concerns about Covid-19.
Asked whether he expected retaliation from Beijing, Trudeau said: “I don’t think the decision by Canada and many other countries to choose not to send diplomatic representation [is] going to come as a surprise to China.”
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Canadian Foreign Minister Joly said “agents” would be in place in China to ensure the safety of Canadian athletes.
“In this particular situation it is obvious that we want to make sure that our athletes have access to protective services and that’s why we’ll be working with the RCMP,” she said, referring to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the country’s federal police force.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
