US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced on December 6 that the US authorities will support their athletes at the Beijing Olympics, despite a diplomatic boycott of the Games.
“We will support them, we will be behind them,” Price said during a press briefing.
According to him, diplomats stationed in China will help athletes to resolve controversial issues.
Earlier Monday, the US administration decided to stage a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier that day. It was noted that this step will not affect the participation of American athletes in the Games. The reason for the decision in the White House was called “the genocide in Xinjiang and other violations of human rights.”
Dmitry Solonnikov, a political scientist and director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development, told Izvestia that the previously announced US diplomatic boycott of the Olympics is, rather, a moral and psychological measure of influence on the host country of international competitions – China.
US President Joe Biden told reporters in November that he was evaluating the possibility of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in China, as Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rallied behind the measure to protest human rights abuses in China.
The last time the United States fully boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from 4 to 20 February.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
