President Biden Condemns China Amid the Winter Olympics
posted by Antonio Mitchell | February 14, 2022 | In NewsThe U.S. decided not to send officials over to China for the Winter Olympic Games because of the human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The athletes participating in the games are still allowed to go, as well as this was President Biden’s first condemnation of China.
According to the New York Times, criticism of China only intensified after the disappearance from public life of the tennis star Peng Shuai
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said administration officials did not believe that it was appropriate to send a delegation of officials to the games because of the “genocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang.
President Biden held a virtual meeting with China’s leader Xi Jinping. The conversation was intended to cool down the tension between the two world powers. But President Biden and President Xi came out with just pledges to improve cooperation after a three and a half-hour conversation, despite having a string of mutual disagreements.
According to New York Times, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the diplomatic boycott “a powerful rebuke of the Chinese Communist Party campaign of genocide of Xinjiang.”
“This boycott is a necessary step to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to human rights in the face of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses,” Sen. Menendez said, he also added that he would like of other nations would join the U.S.
Previous attempts of trying to pull athletes out of the Olympic Games have fallen flat. The last time the United States tried to pull athletes out of the games was the 1980 Olympics, when President Carter rallied against allowing athletes to participate in the summer games in Moscow, to protest the Soviet Union’s military presence in Afghanistan.
A dozen countries followed suit with the U.S. in 1980 pulling athletes out of the games, most political leaders and sports officials in the decades since have tried to relinquish a full boycott because it is punishing the athletes and gives talking points for the host countries.
Psaki sought to distance President Biden’s boycott from the 1980’s boycott. She said according to New York Times: “I don’t think we felt it was the right step to penalize athletes who have been training, preparing for this moment.”
With the U.S. pulling its officials out of the games, it led to Australia also pulling its officials out of the Games as well. China responded furiously, according to ABC News, saying no official was invited to the games as well as “no one would care about whether they came or not.”
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