US considers joint boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
- Calls have grown for the US to back out of the Games because of alleged human rights violations in China
- State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed the need to work with allies so that any step the US takes will have more influence on Beijing
A boycott by the US in coordination with Washington’s allies “is something that we certainly wish to discuss,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, adding that discussions on the matter “are under way”.
“A coordinated approach will be not only in our interests but also in the interests of our allies and partners,” he said.
03:36
Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims
Joining scores of advocacy groups including the World Uygur Congress and the US Tibet Committee, US Republican Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney called for an economic and diplomatic boycott by US delegates, corporations and tourists in a column in The New York Times on March 15.
However, Romney - who had overseen the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah - expressly did not call for US athletes to forego competing at the Beijing Games.
Price cautioned that the 2022 Olympics games – scheduled for next February – “remain some time away”, and that he “wouldn’t want to put a time frame” on when a decision might be reached.
