Beijing, November 29 (EFE). China’s Global Times newspaper said today that China has no plans to invite US and Western politicians who are calling for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The newspaper, which reports to the official People’s Daily, stresses that although China will not invite them as the host country, the IOC has the final say in inviting foreign leaders.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said of the possibility that US President Joe Biden and other US government officials decided not to attend the Games.
In addition, Wang accused the United States of “violating the Olympic Charter” and “the principle of political neutrality of sports.”
Biden announced this month that he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Games, which will begin on February 4 in Beijing, due to “human rights abuses in China,” according to White House spokesman Jen Psaki.
For its part, the European Parliament passed a resolution last July calling for a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Olympics due to “human rights violations”.
However, last October IOC Vice President John Coates said the committee “doesn’t have the ability to go to a country and tell it what to do,” a comment that was “positively appreciated” by the Chinese. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who stated that China will oppose the “politicization of sports.”
The Beijing Winter Olympics will be held under strict precautionary measures against the coronavirus, including a 21-day pre-quarantine after arriving in Beijing for those athletes who have not been vaccinated and excluding the public from outside.
Beijing 2022 will be the third consecutive Olympic event to be held in Asia, after 2018 in Pyeongchang (South Korea) and the last Games in Tokyo.
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