Australia, Canada, UK join US boycott of Beijing Winter Games

BEIJING • Australia, Britain and Canada have announced their plans to join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, drawing another angry response from China.

The US was the first to announce the boycott this week, saying that its government officials would not be attending the Feb 4-20 Games because of China's human rights "atrocities".

France is still considering its stance along with other European Union countries, said an unnamed official yesterday, after a minister indicated that French officials would be present.

When asked about the possibility of more boycotts, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday that China was not worried about a "domino effect".

"On the contrary, most countries in the world have expressed support for the Beijing Winter Olympics," said Mr Wang Wenbin.

Sino-US ties deteriorated sharply under former US president Donald Trump, while his successor Joe Biden has kept up the pressure on China.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country's decision was made because of its struggles to reopen diplomatic channels with China to discuss human rights in Xinjiang - home to the Uighur Muslim minority - and China's moves to block Australian imports.

Beijing denied any wrongdoing.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there would be "effectively a diplomatic boycott" as "no ministers are expected to attend and no officials". China said it had not invited British officials.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Beijing would be aware of longstanding Western concerns about its human rights record and so "it shouldn't be a surprise that we decided not to send diplomatic representation".

French Education and Sports Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, when asked in a TV interview about the boycott, said France "won't do it" and that junior sports minister Roxana Maracineanu would attend the Games.

"Sports is a world apart that needs to be protected from political interference," he said.

But an official in his entourage, who asked not to be named, later said that Paris' position was still being discussed.

Mr Blanquer's comments were also contradicted almost simultaneously by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who said he was still seeking a common EU stance on a possible boycott.

Many American allies have been slow to commit to joining the Olympic diplomatic boycott against China, though Japan is considering not sending Cabinet members to the Games, the Sankei Shimbun daily reported, citing unidentified government sources.

"Countries' decisions to boycott the Olympics, that's their decision that they have to make for themselves," said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

Separately, the US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to ban imports from Xinjiang over concerns about forced labour, one of three measures backed overwhelmingly as Washington pushes back against Beijing's treatment of the Uighur community.

Beijing said it opposed the US action, with Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng warning that the move would seriously hurt the interests of the two countries' companies and consumers, aggravate global supply chain tensions and weigh on the global economic recovery.

The House backed the Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act by an overwhelming 428-1. To become law, it must also pass the Senate and be signed by Mr Biden.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE