The United States "
must
" boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, said on Sunday the former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the latest Republican figure to call for depriving Beijing of the Olympics because of the treatment that this country reserves for Uyghur Muslims.
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"
We must boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China,
" tweeted Nikki Haley, former ally of Donald Trump and prospective candidate for the 2024 US presidential election. "
It would be a terrible loss for our athletes, but we must put that in perspective with the ongoing genocide in China and the idea that empowering China will lead to even worse horrors in the future,
”she added.
On Thursday, Republican elected representative John Katko called on President Joe Biden in an open letter to declare a boycott.
“
Participating in the Olympic Games held in a country which openly commits genocide not only goes against our values, but darkens the hopes of all those who aspire to free and just societies
”, underlined John Katko.
At the beginning of February, seven Republican elected officials had introduced a draft resolution in the Senate asking the IOC to withdraw the organization of the 2022 Winter Olympics from China, because of "
its flagrant violations of human rights
".
"Genocide"
The resolution calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to entrust the competition to a country more respectful of the values defended by the Olympic movement.
"
China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjian, restricting human rights in Hong Kong and threatening Taiwan
", had justified one of its authors, Senator Rick Scott.
The Winter Olympics are due to open on February 4, barely six months after the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Human rights organizations accuse China of interning up to a million Uyghur Muslims in camps in Xinjiang.
China denies this figure and claims that these people are taken to vocational training centers, intended to help them find jobs in order to keep them away from the temptation of religious extremism.