Chinese citizens pass by a sign for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China.
Lintao Zhang | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – The United States and its allies are considering a joint boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the State Department said Tuesday.
“Is it like that [a joint boycott] it’s something we probably want to discuss, ”state spokesman Ned Price told reporters when asked about the Biden administration’s plans ahead of the international games.
“A coordinated approach will not only be in our interest, but also in the interest of our allies and partners,” he added.
Price said the United States has not yet made a decision, but was concerned about China’s serious human rights abuses. The Olympic Games will take place from 4 to 20 February.
The potential diplomatic boycott of the Olympics comes as the Biden administration works to bring together allies to push China internationally.
Last month, the United States sanctioned two Chinese officials, citing their role in serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Sanctions by the Biden administration complement the actions of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Beijing has previously denied U.S. allegations of genocide against Uyghurs, an indigenous Muslim population in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in northwest China. The Foreign Ministry called the allegations “malicious lies” aimed at “smearing China” and “frustrating China’s development.”
The sanctions came as a result of a disputed meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska.
Prior to the Alaska talks, Blinken criticized China’s use of “coercion and aggression” on the international stage and warned that the U.S. would back down if necessary.
“China uses coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in Hong Kong, undermine democracy in Taiwan, abuse human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, and assert maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law Blinken said at a news conference in Japan.
Biden, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February, previously said his approach to China would be different from his predecessor, as he would work more closely with allies in order to retreat against Beijing.
“We will face China’s economic abuses,” Biden said in a speech to the State Department, which described Beijing as America’s “most serious competitor”.
“But we are also prepared to work with Beijing when it does so in the interest of the United States. We will compete from a position of strength, recovering better at home and working with our allies and partners.”
Tensions between Beijing and Washington erupted under the Trump administration, which intensified a trade war and worked to ban Chinese technology companies from doing business in the United States.
For the past four years, the Trump administration has blamed China for a wide range of offenses, including intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices, and the recent coronavirus pandemic.