Canada joins a growing list of countries planning a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision, shortly after Britain’s Boris Johnson said UK officials would also be boycotting the Games. Australia has said it will join the US in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
The Chinese embassy in Australia responded by saying: “Mountains cannot stop the river from flowing into the sea…” Other countries – including Japan – are also said to be considering diplomatic boycotts of the Games. New Zealand has confirmed it will not send officials due to Covid concerns.
France will not boycott Beijing Winter Olympics, its minister said according to AFP. “The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics should not be used to raise global tensions, and athlete participation is a matter of worldwide consensus,” International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday during an IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Most of those Western nations behind diplomatic boycott cite “human rights concerns”. Their government officials won’t attend, the athletes will.
“No one actually cares whether or not the politicians clamoring for “boycott” would come to the Beijing Winter Olympics”, a Chinese ministry of foreign affairs official has said.
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing will begin on Friday, 4 February and end on Sunday, 20 February.
The US will host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, while the 2032 Games will take place in Brisbane, Australia.
