Dharamshala, 16th July: Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom voted in favor of a motion calling on the government to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 unless alleged atrocities in Xinjiang are put to an end. Another condition was the lifting of Chinese sanctions against British citizens and entities. While the motions are not legally binding, they demonstrate how lawmakers in the West are becoming increasingly concerned about China’s alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang and its clampdown on Hong Kong. This comes after the European Parliament took a similar step last week.
Tim Loughton, a Conservative member of parliament in the United Kingdom, led the debate. Loughton, a long-time supporter of Tibet and outspoken critic of the Xinjiang situation, was one of several British lawmakers sanctioned by Beijing in March. The motion also mentioned Chinese government sanctions against UK citizens, including Tim Loughton MP and four other members of IPAC, who were sanctioned in March for their advocacy on Uyghur rights. The motion comes amid growing global calls for a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in Beijing. The European Parliament passed a resolution last week urging EU leaders to decline invitations to the Beijing Olympics.
Tim Loughton stated: “The government, on the one hand, speaks of industrial-scale human rights abuses taking place in the Uyghur Region, and on the other pursues ever deeper trade links with Beijing – even allowing our largest semiconductor manufacturer to be snapped up by a Chinese owned firm. It is time for the government to stop sending mixed messages to Beijing and to toughen up on its response to the Chinese government’s abuses.”
“Authoritarian regimes have a long and troubling history of using the Olympics to whitewash their crimes and spread their propaganda on a global scale. The Chinese Communist Party knows this and so far is getting away with it. It’s up to Britain and democratic states across the world to send a clear message to Beijing: we will not turn a blind eye to the abuses in the Uyghur Region, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and we will not let you score a major propaganda victory at the Winter Olympics.”
According to IPAC, Beijing hopes to use the Games to divert attention away from the atrocities in the Uyghur region and its brutal crackdown in Hong Kong.
Image Source: paralympic.org