China slams UK, Canada for boycotting Beijing Winter Olympics; terms stance as 'farce'

On Thursday, China slammed the United Kingdom's and Canada's decisions to join the US' diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. China also termed the move by two countries as a "farce". On Wednesday, 8 December, the UK and Canada officially announced that they would not be sending any ministers to the major sporting event in defiance of China's alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang province against the Uyghur community. Speaking at a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that the country is not afraid that their absence will cause a chain reaction and that a number of government leaders, as well as royal families, have registered to attend the event, the Associated Press (AP) reported. 

Wang stated that China did not send invites to the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom and that regardless of whether their leaders attended or not, the Beijing Winter Olympics would be a success. “Sports has nothing to do with politics. It is they who have written, directed and performed this farce," he was quoted by the news agency as saying. The US, the UK and Canada have announced that they will not be sending any government officials to the Games, which is scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February in 2022.

China threatens to retaliate against diplomatic boycott

Meanwhile, New Zealand said it had already notified Beijing that it would not be sending any officials owing to pandemic travel restrictions but had also expressed its worries about human rights violations. The countries will still send their athletes to compete despite the diplomatic boycott. China has threatened to retaliate against the boycott by taking "strong countermeasures," but has not specified how it intends to do so. "China is committed to making greater contributions to the international Olympic cause and will offer up a streamlined, safe and exciting Olympics to the world," Wang added.

Meanwhile, rights groups have also advocated for a complete boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, citing Chinese human rights violations against the Uyghur minority. They also pointed to Beijing's repression of democratic movements in Hong Kong and the semi-autonomous territory's broad assault on dissent. Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declared that the country will hold the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games as scheduled, despite the growing concerns over the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. 

(With AP inputs)

Image: AP