Pelosi calls for diplomatic boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing

佩洛西呼籲抵制北京2022年冬季奧運會

House speaker becomes highest-ranking US official to call for boycott yet


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking lawmaker in the U.S., has called for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China over Beijing's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim population.

The democratic congresswoman joins an increasing number of her colleagues from both sides of the aisle in calling for either a boycott or relocation of the games. The ongoing internment of over 1 million Uyghurs, as well as allegations of forced labor, torture, sterilization, and systematic rape, amount to what has been termed a genocide by the U.S. Department of State.

"Let's not honor the Chinese government by having heads of state go to China," Speaker Pelosi told a bipartisan congressional hearing.

"For heads of state to go to China in light of a genocide that is ongoing — while you're sitting there in your seat — really begs the question, what moral authority do you have to speak again about human rights any place in the world?" she said.

The diplomatic boycott, which would not prevent athletes from participating in the games, would still be a step below a full boycott.

Pelosi reportedly also spoke out against the corporate sponsors of the games, in particular those that sought to water down a bill related to forced labor concerns over the Uyghurs.

Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern went a step further than Pelosi, urging a relocation of the games: "If we can postpone an Olympics by a year for a pandemic, we can surely postpone the Olympics for a year for a genocide," he said, referring to the COVID-related postponement of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Chinese Embassy Spokesman Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇) attempted to rebut the lawmakers’ charges when he spoke to Reuters.?"I wonder what makes some U.S. politicians think they actually have the so-called 'moral authority'? On human rights issues, they are in no position, either historically or currently, to make wanton groundless criticism against China," Liu said.

This is not Speaker Pelosi’s first attempt at a Chinese Olympics?boycott. Over a decade ago, she urged former President George W. Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing over its heavy-handed crackdown on protests in Tibet during March of that year.

For its part, the Biden administration has not committed to any boycotts, having said that it hopes to approach the issue in partnership with its allies, though Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the issue has not yet been discussed.