US & New Zealand diplomats to boycott Winter Olympics

The US has announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The White House said no official delegation will be sent to the games because of concerns about China's human rights record. But it said US athletes can attend the games and will have the government's full support. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, US diplomatic representation will treat these games as business as usual in the face of Beijing's egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang. Psaki added that Team USA has the administration's full support but that the administration will not be contributing to the fanfare of the game. Psaki said, the diplomatic boycott of the games does not mean that is the end of the concerns we will raise about human rights abuses.

China called Washington's move a "self-directed political farce". "The US just wants to politicize sports, create divisions and provoke confrontation," said a statement by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the UN. "The success of the Games does not rely on the attendance of a handful of countries' government officials." China's Washington embassy also waded in on the announcement, calling the boycott a "grave distortion of the spirit of the Olympic Charter".  Following the US announcement, New Zealand said on Tuesday it too would not send a delegation. Other countries, including the UK and Australia, are said to be considering boycotts.