China snaps back at US boycotting Beijing Olympics, calls it ‘travesty’ of Olympic spirit

Soon after the US announcement to hold a diplomatic boycott on 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China denounced the step as a "posturing and political manipulation".

Chinese officials responded to the US announcement with outrage and also pre-emptive dismissal. Liu Xiaoming, the former Chinese ambassador to the UK, said the Olympics were "not a stage for political posturing and manipulation".

"US politicians keep hyping a 'diplomatic boycott' without even being invited to the Games. This wishful thinking and pure grandstanding is aimed at political manipulation," he said.

"It is a grave travesty of the spirit of the Olympic Charter, a blatant political provocation and a serious affront to the 1.4 billion Chinese people. It will only make the Chinese people and the world see clearly US politicians' anti-China nature and hypocrisy."

Liu's tweets mirrored the language of several other Chinese officials before and after the announcement.

China's embassy in Washington dismissed the boycott as "a pretentious act" and a "political manipulation", Guardian reported.

Earlier on Monday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, accused Washington of "hyping a 'diplomatic boycott' without even being invited to the Games", and threatened unspecified "resolute countermeasures" if a boycott was announced.

The Biden administration confirmed on Monday that it would not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games given the PRC's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.

The decision was made weeks ago, though US officials waited to make the announcement to allow some time to pass after a phone call last month between President Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to stabilize tense relations, advisers to the administration said.

A US boycott had the support of senior legislators including Republican Mitt Romney and the Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

More countries said they would consider joining the protest over Beijing's human rights record.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson on Tuesday announced it would not send representatives to the Games.
 
Robertson cited Covid-19 as the primary reason "but we've made clear to China on numerous occasions our concerns about human rights issues", he said.

The UK, Canada, and Australia have said they were considering their positions. Last week, Lithuania, which is facing trade and diplomatic hostilities from China over its growing relationship with Taiwan, announced neither its president nor ministers would attend the Games.

Boycott calls have intensified in recent months, as dozens of world governments mull how to respond to Beijing's continued crackdown on ethnic minorities in China, its intervention on Hong Kong, and other human rights issues. Demands have further escalated over the case of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who was not seen for almost three weeks after posting to social media an accusation of sexual assault against Chinese former vice-premier. She was later shown on state media to be in Beijing, but there remain widespread concerns about her wellbeing and level of freedom.

Rights groups welcomed the US announcement and called for other governments to follow suit.

The last time the US staged an Olympics boycott was the 1980 Moscow games, alongside 64 other countries and territories in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the previous year.