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Construction site for winter sports facility in China (in July 2021)
Photo: ROMAN PILIPEY / EPA
Australia joins the US in diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China.
"It comes as no surprise, of course, that we are not going to send any Australian officials to these games," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.
Athletes in the country, on the other hand, should travel to Beijing.
Morrison based the decision on a series of "disagreements" between Canberra and Beijing.
The Winter Games will take place from February 4th to 20th, 2022.
The US announced just the day before that it would not send any political representatives to the February games.
They justified the move primarily with human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities in the province of Xinjiang in western China.
Beijing denies the allegations that hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs are being interned in labor camps and that the authorities are reducing the birth rate of the minority with, among other things, forced sterilization.
According to Morrison, Xinjiang also played a central role in his government's deliberations.
Alongside this, however, Australia and China are arguing over a host of other issues.
For example, Beijing is angry about laws designed to reduce China's influence on Australian politics and economics.
As a supplier of raw materials and food, Australia is economically closely tied to China.
Sharp reaction after US statement
The new defense alliance with the USA and Great Britain for the Indo-Pacific is seen in China as interference in its affairs.
Beijing has therefore imposed sanctions on a number of Australian export goods, such as coal.
As expected, the Beijing government reacted indignantly to the announcement of the US boycott.
The announcement was a violation of "political neutrality in sport," said a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The US attempt to hinder the Games "out of ideological prejudices based on lies and rumors will only expose its sinister intentions."
In contrast, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch welcomed the Biden government's boycott decision.
"We think this is a step in the right direction," said spokeswoman Mei Fong.
"After all, we and many other organizations have said that it is really impossible to celebrate the Olympics at a time when the country is committing so many human rights violations, especially in Xinjiang."
jok / AFP