No diplomats and government representatives will be sent to the games next February, as the White House announced on Monday. US athletes are allowed to participate.
China is committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang province and other human rights violations, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. The athletes are not affected by the boycott. “The athletes of Team USA have our full support. We will stand behind them 100 percent and cheer them on from home.”
The suppression of the Muslim Uyghur minority in the Chinese province of Xinjiang has been causing diplomatic tensions with Beijing for years. Conservative US politicians therefore even called for a complete boycott of the Winter Games. The Taiwan issue had also recently put a heavy strain on relations between Washington and Beijing.
According to human rights organizations and researchers, more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims are imprisoned in hundreds of detention camps in Xinjiang. According to the activists, they are being forced to give up their religion, culture and language and in some cases they are also being mistreated. Uighurs in exile also accuse Beijing of murders, abductions, torture and forced sterilization in the region.
Source: Nachrichten
