Australia To Boycott 2022 Beijing Winter Games Joining the United States
Written originally by Jack Kerley 8 Dec. 2021.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Confirmed Dec. 8 that Australia will join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022 over China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
The US announced their official diplomatic boycott on Dec. 6 citing the human rights abuses and systematic genocide of the Uyghur minority in the North Western Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Morrison announced that it should come as “no surprise” that Australia would join the diplomatic boycott while hinting that China’s own diplomatic freeze factored into the decision to boycott, ABC reported.
READ MORE: White House Announces Diplomatic Boycott Of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
“Australia takes a very strong stance standing up for Australia’s interests,” Morrison said at the press conference.
“We have been very happy to talk to the Chinese government about these issues and there has been no obstacle to that occurring on our side,” Morrison said “but the Chinese government has consistently not accepted those opportunities for us to meet about those issues.”
“I very much separate the issues of sport and these political issues,” Morrison said, “but Australia will not step back from the strong position we have in standing up for Australia’s interests.”
Morrison also stated that he wished to see the longstanding tensions between China and Australia subside, the Guardian reported
Wednesday say Labor’s foreign affairs minister Penny Wong support the governments decision to boycott the games, the Guardian reported.
Along with Xinjiang, concerns have been raised about China’s rising aggression towards Taiwan and the disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a high ranking Communist Party of China official of sexual misconduct.
China has come out and blasted the decisions to boycott with the former Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming saying the Olympics are “not a stage for political posturing and manipulation,” the Guardian reported.
New Zealand stated that they would not be sending diplomats to Beijing however, they cited COVID-19 as the reason, not the genocide in Xinjiang, the Guardian reported.