US Diplomatic Boycott of the Winter Olympics: Breakdown
As millions watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics last weekend, they watched an Uyghur athlete light the Olympic cauldron. While this selection of a Uyghur athlete was meant to be a symbol of unity among the 56 ethnic groups in China, many human rights activists and critics saw it as a calculated propaganda effort to mask China’s incarceration of Uyghur Muslims to the world stage.
Earlier last December, the United States declared a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. While athletes from the United States will continue to compete at the Olympics this month, the boycott means that government officials will not be attending the Games. Typically, the Olympics also serve as an international gathering for high-ranked officials and political leaders from many countries.
President Joe Biden decided to opt out due to China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. This refers to the Chinese government and its ongoing mass detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the region.
The United States is not the only country to boycott, as several other countries have also declared that their top government officials will not attend the Games as well as expressed their discontent with China’s policies. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia all declared a diplomatic boycott in December 2021. Japan also announced that it would not be sending a government official, but did not call it a diplomatic boycott to maintain their relationship with China.
Similar decisions have occurred before in Olympic history; most notably, more than 60 countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. More recently, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama all skipped the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia due to Russia’s suppression of gay rights.
While boycotting has a symbolic impact on promoting human rights, in general, it doesn’t have a direct impact on changing policies. Despite this, the Olympic boycott raises visibility of the atrocities to a large audience and serves as a small victory. It remains unclear what impact this boycott will have and whether it will have any consequences. The world will continue to watch both the athletes and the politics play out over these next two weeks.
Sakura Yamanaka is an Editor-at-Large for the Next Generation Politics Blog and a Next Gen Civic Fellow. She is a junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Sakura grew up in the Washington DC area and Rwanda, Africa where she was exposed to diverse cultures. She is an avid writer in her high school newspaper and is involved in various local political organizations. She is passionate about enhancing youth voices and informing the public about pressing global issues. In her free time, Sakura is a competitive figure skater and loves to explore new coffee shops.