The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have announced that they will follow the United States and diplomatically boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will take place in February.
In the British Parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he normally does not support “sports boycotts”, but revealed that there are no plans for local government representatives to attend the event, due to human rights violations in China.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games. Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had informed that his country will adopt the same measure, by which athletes will still compete in the Chinese capital, but will not be accompanied by government representatives.
Morrison also said the decision was made in response to what he called “human rights abuses” in China’s Xinjiang province and “many other issues that Australia has consistently raised.” “I’m doing this considering Australia’s national interest. It’s the right thing to do”, considered the prime minister at a press conference.
Another country that will not send diplomatic representation to Beijing 2022 is New Zealand, which, however, justified its decision for health security reasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other countries, such as Germany and Japan, have left in the air whether their governments will join the diplomatic boycott, while Russia has asked that sport and politics not be mixed.
The United States had confirmed on Monday (6) that they will carry out a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“The Biden government will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games due to the People’s Republic of China’s genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses,” the secretary said. White House Press Officer Jen Psaki at a news conference.
After the American announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that “the United States will pay a price for the wrong move” and that a formal protest against Washington would be filed.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/uk-canada-and-australia-join-diplomatic-boycott-of-beijing-games/
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