Netherlands and Denmark won’t send officials to Beijing Olympics
- The Dutch say they are not joining the US-led diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games, but coronavirus curbs will prevent human rights talks with the Chinese
- Athletes from both countries will still attend, though Dutch King Willem-Alexander will not be present
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The Netherlands will not send diplomatic representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics because Covid-19 curbs will prevent talks with Chinese officials on human rights, the Dutch foreign ministry said Friday.
But officials insisted that the move, which ministers decided on at a meeting on Friday, was not a political boycott of the sort already announced by the United States, Canada, Australia and Britain.
Denmark had announced a similar move earlier on Friday.
“We think that the severe Covid measures will make it difficult to have meetings in China and a substantive programme of bilateral meetings with the host country,” Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Frits Kemperman told.
“In these meetings we could talk about the worries on the human rights situation, as the Netherlands sees it, on a meaningful level with the authorities. So this is why the government concludes that we will not send an official delegation.”
Dutch athletes will still attend, with speed skaters Sven Kramer and Ireen Wust heading to Beijing to defend their Olympic titles.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander had already decided not to attend because the Covid-19 measures would prevent Dutch fans coming to the Olympics, Kemperman said.
The Netherlands similarly declined to send officials to the Tokyo 2021 summer games because of Covid-19 restrictions, he added.
European athletes warned against taking smartphones to Beijing
A Dutch government source said it was “not a political boycott” and that there had been discussions with other EU countries that had also decided not to send an official delegation.
A few hours earlier, Denmark also said it would not send any official representative to the Beijing games.
“The government has decided that we will not take part in the Winter Olympics in China … It is no secret that we, in Denmark, are very concerned by the human rights situation in China,” Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a statement.
Danish athletes will however compete in the games to start next month. They “can count on the total support of the government. And we will cheer them on as we always do – but from home, not from the bleachers of Beijing,” Kofod added.
