19th May: On Monday, a group of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kong activists called on governments, citizens, Olympic committees, and athletes to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China entirely. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supports a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympics.
China has been accused by the United States and other countries of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Muslim Uyghurs, including forced sterilization, rape, forced labor, and torture in detention camps in the Xinjiang region.
The State Department has stated that it would talk to allies and partners about a joint boycott of the games. That will be the first time the United States has boycotted an Olympic Games since Moscow in 1980.
China responded by denying any wrongdoing against the region’s Uyghur population and promising a “robust Chinese response” to any potential boycott.
Several rights organizations have met with the International Olympic Committee in the last year to request that the games be held outside of China.
“We cannot proceed as if there is nothing wrong with the Olympics being held in China,” the California Democrat said during a joint video hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, according to Washington Post.
The Beijing Games are set to begin on February 4, 2022, just six months after the postponed Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Rights activists have met with the International Olympic Committee several times in the last year, requesting that the Olympics be moved out of China, which also hosted the 2008 Summer Games.
Last week, human rights organizations and Western nations led by the United States, Britain, and Germany accused China of major human rights violations against the Uyghur minority in the western area of Xinjiang and requested unrestricted access for United Nations experts.
Picture Courtesy: denverpost.com
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