WASHINGTON, December 7. / TASS /. The Chinese Embassy in the United States has called Washington’s statement about a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics “pretentious” and “political manipulation”. Diplomatic Mission Representative Liu Pengyu told TASS that the presence or absence of US officials “will not disturb anyone” and will not affect the smooth running of the Games.
“There was no invitation to American politicians, so this ‘diplomatic boycott’ came out of nowhere. Such a pretentious act is nothing but political manipulation and a serious distortion of the spirit of the Olympic Charter.” Liu Pengyu said.
“In fact, no one will care whether these people come or not, it will not affect the success of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing,” he added.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday that the United States has decided to organize a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Olympics in China. At the same time, she clarified that the US government’s decision does not apply to American athletes who can attend competitions in Beijing.
Previously, politicians from Canada, Norway, the United States, as well as representatives of nearly 200 human rights organizations from different countries, had called for a boycott of the Winter Games, which China is expected to host. next year. The reason was the massive repression attributed by the PRC in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Beijing, as Republic Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian noted in March, strongly opposes the politicization of sport by countries and individual organizations trying, under the slogan of protecting people. human rights, disrupt major competitions and interfere in the affairs of other states. The US National Olympic Committee, as its president Susan Lyons declared in the spring, does not support the idea of boycotting the Beijing Games.
The XXIV Olympic Winter Games will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20, 2022. The capital of the PRC has been chosen as the venue for the International Olympic Committee session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015.
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