Diplomatic Boycott of the Beijing Olympics – Don’t Be Fooled, America Doesn’t Care About Human Rights in China
America is primarily serving its own interests here.
Whether they are summer or winter, the Olympic Games are always a special moment for the organizing country. The opportunity to show its country under its best day in front of the world. China counted well to take advantage of the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games of Beijing having to take place from February 4th till February 20th, 2022 to show itself under its best day.
Xi Jinping's country was also planning to take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate its leadership in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) with its e-CNY which could be used in real life during the event. Everything had to be done for China to shine during February 2022.
America decided otherwise by announcing at the beginning of December 2021 the diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing. A complete boycott had been considered for a while, but Joe Biden opted for a diplomatic boycott in order not to penalize the athletes who have been preparing for this for 4 years.
America launches the movement of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing
No official of the American government will go to China during the event. In announcing this decision, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, cited the “genocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, a northwestern region of China.
The Chinese government has severely repressed the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in this region, including mass detentions and the forced use of contraception and sterilization.
To this, we can add the case of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star who a few weeks ago accused a former senior Chinese government official of sexually assaulting her. References to the accusation were quickly deleted from the Internet in China, and Peng Shuai disappeared from public view, prompting athletes and others around the world to post “Where is Peng Shuai?”
Peng was then seen in several short videos shared by Chinese state media reporters on Twitter. The International Olympic Committee said it called her twice, but questions were raised about her freedom of speech.
America's real goal is not human conditions in China, but rather to isolate China by creating a democratic front
For America, this was the perfect opportunity to isolate Beijing a little more in the drive pursued for months by Joe Biden to create a global democratic front to take advantage of China's greatest weakness: its lack of respect for human rights on its territory. To counter China's emergence as the world's leading power, America has understood that there was an ideal opportunity to be seized.
Not that the human rights situation in China concerns Joe Biden any more than that, but the opportunity is too good to be able to unite the other world powers behind America. This worked well because America's historical allies quickly followed the decision of a diplomatic boycott.
The United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada will also diplomatically boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing. Japan then announced the same decision on the sidelines of the summit for democracy organized by Joe Biden and America on 9 and 10 December 2021.
A summit for the democracy whose objective was well the same one as that of this diplomatic boycott: to isolate China. In the cold war that the two giants of the 21st century are waging, everything is good to destabilize its opponent.
China's actions are reprehensible, but America is acting here simply to preserve its long-term interests
I am not defending China's actions on the Uighur minority. Far from it! The way China is acting is intolerable. It is clear that the Chinese Communist Party has a total lock on the country and has little respect for human rights.
However, one should not be mistaken about the American intentions here. For it is not this diplomatic boycott that will change China's position on the matter. It simply serves American interests by pointing the finger at China and uniting countries behind America in the strategic struggle led by the country chaired by Joe Biden.
If Joe Biden were serious, he would have gone much further with a complete boycott, but also by forcing American companies to boycott these Olympic Games in Beijing. There are tens of billions of dollars at stake and forcing the American broadcasters not to broadcast or sponsor the event would have had much more weight. Money is always the sinews of war, and the Olympic Games are no exception to the rule.
But Joe Biden did not go that far, because the goal is not really to try to make China change its position on the respect of human rights on its territory. The goal is, as I told you, to point the finger at China to continue to isolate it.
We will see how China will respond to this slap in the face, which will only increase tensions in the growing cold war between the two giants.
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