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Ski jumping facility for the Winter Olympics
Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / ChinaImages
The White House announced the political boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Monday.
“The Biden government will not send diplomats or official representatives to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing in 2022.
The reasons are the ongoing genocide and human rights violations in Xinjiang as well as other human rights violations, "said spokeswoman Jen Psaki:" The athletes of Team USA have our full support.
We are 100 percent behind them and we will cheer them on from home. "
Biden announced this measure two weeks ago in protest against human rights violations in China, the suppression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the repression against the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Several Republican senators had called for a full boycott.
However, numerous MPs from both parties, including the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Republican Senator Mitt Romney, advocate this diplomatic boycott.
China had threatened the US with "decisive countermeasures" in the event of a boycott of the Games.
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sol / afp / sid