China says US diplomatic boycott violates Olympic spirit

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BEIJING – China connected Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Olympic tone by announcing an American diplomatic boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Games, amid an progressively bitter feud implicit the Biden administration's determination not to nonstop officials implicit quality rights concerns.

The U.S. is attempting to interfere with the Beijing Winter Olympics “out of ideological prejudice and based connected lies and rumors," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters astatine a regular briefing.

The boycott “seriously violates the rule of governmental neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs antagonistic to the Olympic motto ‘more united,'” Zhao said.

As helium did the erstwhile day, Zhao vowed that China would respond with “resolute countermeasures" but offered nary details.

“The U.S. volition wage a terms for its practices. You whitethorn enactment tuned for follow-ups,” Zhao said.

His comments came amid a barrage of Chinese disapproval of the announcement by the Biden medication connected Monday.

White House property caput Jen Psaki told reporters connected Monday that the medication volition afloat enactment U.S. athletes competing astatine the games but won’t dispatch U.S. diplomats oregon officials to attend.

Psaki said the U.S. has a "fundamental committedness to promoting quality rights” and that the U.S. “will not beryllium contributing to the fanfare of the games.”

The diplomatic boycott comes arsenic the U.S. attempts to stabilize turbulent relations with Beijing, adjacent arsenic it maintains a pugnacious attack toward commercialized and conflicts implicit China’s actions connected Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and the attraction of taste minorities, peculiarly Muslim Uyghurs.

Beijing has counterattacked against U.S. criticisms and punitive sanctions, denouncing them arsenic interference successful its interior affairs and slapping visa bans connected American politicians it regards arsenic anti-China.

Zhao called connected the U.S. to “stop politicizing sports” and what helium said were actions undermining the Beijing Winter Olympics, “otherwise it volition undermine the dialog and practice betwixt the 2 countries successful a bid of important areas and planetary issues."

The Chinese Embassy successful Washington tweeted that politicians calling for a boycott are “doing truthful for their ain governmental interests and posturing."

“In fact, nary 1 would attraction astir whether these radical travel oregon not, and it has nary interaction whatsoever connected the #Beijing2022 to beryllium successfully held," the embassy said.

China's ngo to the United Nations called the boycott a “self-directed governmental farce."

“The U.S. conscionable wants to politicize sports, make divisions and provoke confrontation," it said.

Even the ruling Communist Party's notoriously opaque Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a effect successful the signifier of a lengthy screed connected its website entitled “The Spirit of the Olympic Charter Cannot beryllium Tarnished."

“Some Western anti-China politicians" person shown a “defensive Cold War mentality aimed astatine politicizing sport," the nonfiction said, calling that a “clear usurpation of the Olympic tone and a situation to each radical who emotion the Olympic movement."

It wasn't wide what officials Washington mightiness person sent, and Zhao connected Monday said nary invitation had been extended by China.

Other large countries person yet to accidental if they volition travel the U.S. lead. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida connected Tuesday said Japan would marque its ain determination “from the position of nationalist interests, taking into information the value of the Olympic Games and the value of Japan’s diplomacy. This is the basal cognition of our country.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said it remained unclear what the diplomatic boycott means and that a determination connected officials attending would beryllium made “at an due time."

“In immoderate case, Japan hopes that the Beijing Winter Games volition beryllium held arsenic a solemnisation of bid successful enactment with the principles of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Matsuno said.

The dispatching of high-level delegations to each Olympics has agelong been a contented among the U.S. and different starring nations. Then-President George W. Bush attended the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games. First woman Jill Biden led the American contingent to the Summer Olympics successful Tokyo this twelvemonth and 2nd man Doug Emhoff led a delegation to the Paralympic Games.

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