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UK’s Boris Johnson set to resist call to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
- The government has repeatedly condemned Beijing over its activities in Xinjiang, amid other issues, but it has resisted calls to boycott Beijing’s Games
- ‘I will certainly consider the proposal debated, but I must say I am instinctively and always have been against sporting boycotts,’ Johnson told MPs
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he was “instinctively” against boycotts after the main opposition Labour Party urged ministers and the royal family to snub the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights claims.
The government in London has repeatedly condemned Beijing and demanded the United Nations be allowed to examine claims that Uygur Muslims in the western Xinjiang region are victims of abuses like torture and forced sterilisation.
But it has resisted calls to boycott Beijing’s Games.
“I will certainly consider the proposal debated, but I must say that I am instinctively and always have been against sporting boycotts,” Johnson told MPs.
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China last month accused the United States of “politicising sports”, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was seeking consensus among allies for a possible boycott.
Labour foreign affairs spokeswoman Lisa Nandy and culture spokeswoman Jo Stevens on Tuesday said “we have consistently pressed the government for more robust actions to address this appalling situation”.
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“We are now calling on you to use the occasion of the Games to press the case for unfettered UN access to Xinjiang to conduct a full, transparent and independent investigation.”
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