Beijing Winter Olympics: When are they and why is there a boycott?
The Beijng Winter Olympics and Paralympics are due to take place in early 2022.
However, a number of nations are refusing to send official visitors to the events, because of alleged human rights abuses by China.
When are the Games and how big are they?
The Winter Olympics take place from 4 February to 20 February, and the Winter Paralympics run from 4 March to 13 March.
China’s government and businesses in the country are spending $3.9bn (£2.95bn) on the events in and around Beijing and nearby cities.
In the Olympics, about 3,000 athletes will take part in 109 different events. There will be 736 competitors in 78 events in the Paralympics.
The organisers will be spraying no less than 1.2 million cubic metres of artificial snow onto the competition sites, because so little snow falls in the Beijing region.
China has also built a new high-speed railway line to take people to the Games venues.
However, Covid restrictions will mean that there will be few foreign spectators at the Olympics and Paralympics.
The current rules state that only people residing on the Chinese mainland, who are Covid-free, will be allowed into the Olympic venues.
The Games will be available for people across the world to watch on television.
What is the boycott of the Olympics?
The UK and Canada have declared a diplomatic boycott of the Games, along with Australia, the US, Lithuania and Kosovo.
Although they will all send athletes to compete, no ministers or officials will attend.
China’s neighbour, Japan, is also expected to join the boycott, although France and South Korea have announced they will not follow.
When the US declared its diplomatic boycott on 6 December, the International Olympic Committee said it “respected” its decision but that it would be unlikely to stop the Games from being a success.
What are the allegations against China?
The Beijing government is accused of committing atrocities against the Uyghur Muslim population in the northwest province of Xinjiang.
Human rights groups believe more than one million Uyghurs have been detained over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”, and hundreds of thousands sentenced to prison terms.
There is also evidence that Uyghurs are being used as forced labour and of women being forcibly sterilised. Some former camp detainees have also alleged they were tortured and sexually abused.
Beijing is also accused of restricting the freedom of people in Hong Kong, with several new laws such as the Hong Kong National Security Law.
In its 2021 annual report, Human Rights Watch says: “Beijing’s repression – insisting on political loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party – deepened across the country”.
China’s government denies the allegations.
How has China responded?
China has consistently denied violating human rights in Xinjiang and has warned its most vocal accusers – countries such as the US and Germany – not to interfere in China’s “internal affairs” in Hong Kong.
It has spoken out most loudly against the US diplomatic boycott China’s Foreign Ministry said that the US had “clearly violated the Olympic spirit” and “will pay a price for its erroneous actions.” However, it has not specified what actions China might take.
On the Chinese social media app Weibo, hashtags have been trending such as “China never invited US politicians to the Winter Olympics” and “the US is in no position to fan the flames over the ice and snow festival”.
Previous Olympic Boycotts
- Montreal 1976 – athletes from 33 countries, mostly African, boycotted in protest at New Zealand, whose national rugby union team had recently toured apartheid regime South Africa
- Moscow 1980 – athletes from 66 countries, including the USA, boycotted in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- Los Angeles 1984 – athletes from the Soviet Union and 17 of its allies boycotted in retaliation for the US boycott four years earlier.
Source: BBC
