Australia will not send any diplomatic representatives to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday (December 8th), joining the diplomatic boycott announced by the United States on Monday.
"Australia will not go back on the strong position it has taken to defend its interests, and it is obviously not surprising that we do not send Australian officials to these Games,"
he said. .
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Canberra's move comes amid
"disagreement"
with China over a number of issues, including Australia's foreign interference laws and the recent move to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, said Scott Morrison. . This decision, which does not prevent athletes from participating in the Games, comes the day after the United States announced its diplomatic boycott, in the name of the defense of human rights.
Scott Morrison also said human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and Beijing's reluctance to meet Australian officials for discussions motivated the Australian decision.
"The Chinese government has never accepted that we meet to discuss these issues,"
he said.
Tensions, especially trade, between Australia and China have not stopped growing since 2018, marked in particular by a freeze of diplomatic relations at the highest level for two years.
China has been particularly irritated by Australian decisions regarding foreign interference, the ban on 5G contracts to Huawei and the request for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read alsoThe United States announces the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Olympics, China says they "will pay the price"
Australia's decision to outfit its navy with nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new defense pact with Britain and the United States, widely seen as an attempt to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific region, also aroused the ire of Beijing.
