(Ottawa) Canada will not send diplomats to the Beijing Olympics.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Wednesday along with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge.
Ottawa is thus following in the footsteps of its “Five Eyes” partners, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
These cascading disavowals aim to denounce the genocide that is being perpetrated by the Chinese regime against the Muslim minority of the Uyghurs, in the Xinjiang region.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Justin trudeau
The series of boycotts announcements began with that of Washington last Monday.
All the opposition parties in Ottawa urged the Liberal government to shun the event, without going so far as to ask Olympic athletes to do the same.
Minister Joly had also insisted on this fact Tuesday.
“We want to make sure that our athletes can participate in the next Olympic Winter Games. They worked so hard, it’s important that they are there, ”she said.
Bloc member Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, who has been carrying this issue for months, wanted to go further by proposing to postpone the Games for a year, while an observation mission goes to Xinjiang.
He tried to pass a motion to this effect in the House of Commons on November 30, but the Liberals refused to table the motion.
According to the elected official, China is instrumentalizing athletes for political purposes, to improve its image.
A view not shared by former Olympic kayaker Adam van Koeverden, who was Canada’s flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics before plunging into the political arena.
“In 2008, we wondered if shining the spotlight on China as a country could lead to positive change. And I think it is. We are talking about it at the moment, ”he argued.
“The genocide is a reality, but the Olympics always shed a brighter light on the issues around the world. […] This light is a first step, in my opinion, ”added the Olympic medalist the day after the blocking of MP Brunelle-Duceppe’s motion.
The Beijing Games open on February 4 in the Chinese capital.