What’s #NoBeijing2022?

Many countries will diplomatically boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

• Beijing is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in January next year. Since the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, this is the next most elaborate sporting event its hosting.
• But countries such as the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia have decided to diplomatically boycott the Games. It means they won’t send their political representatives, but athletes are allowed.
• The reason for the diplomatic boycott is the human rights abuses faced by the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region, an accusation that China has denied to this day.
• China has promised counter-measures but at the same time has also said that it never was going to invite Washington for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
• Boycotting Olympics isn’t new. It was done by the USA in the 1980 Russian Olympics which did not bear any fruit. While this boycott is symbolic, China has been called out.
• The European Union has not boycotted, diplomatically or otherwise. Lithuania is the only country that has announced its diplomatic boycott as China has blocked trade with it.
• No one believes that this diplomatic boycott will make China change its ways. What is feared is that China will double down on its atrocities and counter-measures against boycotting countries.
• While the 2022 Winter Olympics will most likely go on, it again brings the question of whether such games can be considered ethical given what’s going on in China?
• This reading will try to look at the diplomatic boycott in its current as well as historical geopolitical context.