Following the United States, several countries have decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics to denounce human rights violations in China, particularly in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang (Northwest).
These countries will not send official officials to Beijing but their athletes will participate in the competitions.
The Chinese authorities reacted very quickly by warning the Western nations associating themselves with this boycott that they “would pay the price”, without specifying the nature of these reprisals.
United States
Ignoring Chinese warnings, the White House announces on December 6, 2021 that the United States will not send any diplomatic representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, due to human rights abuses in China.
Immediately, China expressed its anger, accusing the United States of having violated the principle of the political neutrality of sport.
Australia
Two days after Washington, Australia, which has had no ministerial contact with China for two years, joins the American boycott and announces that it will send athletes but no official delegation to Beijing.
Canberra then invokes the issue of respect for human rights in Xinjiang, as well as other disputes between the two countries.
In return, Chinese diplomacy believes that “no one cares” whether or not Canberra sends official representatives.
For its part, New Zealand, which had warned in October 2021 that it would not send diplomatic representatives at ministerial level to the Games, cites as the reason for this decision “a range of factors but mainly COVID”.
UK
In the process, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in turn a “diplomatic boycott” of the Games, which “no minister” of his government plans to go to, stressing to the deputies that the sports boycott is “not the policy” of his government.
Canada
In turn, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces on the 8th that Canadian athletes will participate in the 2022 Olympics but that no government representative will travel to China.
There are many sources of tension between the two countries which have just emerged from an unprecedented diplomatic crisis linked to the arrest, in December 2018, of the daughter of the founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Canada.
Japan
On December 24, Japan announces that it will not send government representatives to Beijing. However, the Japanese authorities avoid calling this decision a boycott.
Japan “believes it is important that the common values shared by the international community, such as freedom, human rights and the rule of law, are also respected in China”, said the spokesperson at the time. of the government, Hirokazu Matsuno.
On the other hand, the president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee Seiko Hashimoto will go there, as well as the president of the Japanese Olympic committee Yasuhiro Yamashita.
Denmark
Also referring to the human rights situation in China, the Danish authorities announced on January 14, 2022 that they would not send an official delegation to the Winter Olympics.
“Danish athletes can count on the full support of the government. And we will encourage them” (…) “from our home, not from the stands in Beijing”, declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeppe Kofod, at the end of a European meeting which had not made it possible to reach a common position between the 27 EU countries.
Netherlands
The same day, the Netherlands announced that no official representative would take part in the Olympic Games ceremonies, because of the pandemic, while explaining that the health restrictions caused by the coronavirus would make it “difficult” for sufficiently in-depth discussions between Dutch diplomats and their Chinese counterparts on topics such as human rights.