• Press Release

Biden Administration’s Diplomatic Boycott of Winter Olympics a Blow to the Impunity of the Chinese Government

December 6, 2021

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In response to today’s news that U.S. government officials would not attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Joanne Lin, National Director for Advocacy and Government Relations at Amnesty International USA, said:

“The Biden administration’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic games is a blow to the impunity of the Chinese authorities. The Chinese government’s perpetuation and condoning of human rights abuses — from the dismantling of free expression in Hong Kong to the repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other minorities, to blatant attempts to silence survivors of sexual abuse — must be met with unequivocal condemnation and demands for justice.

“Crackdowns on freedom of expression, religion, and opinion do not occur in a vacuum. They also require our shared complicity. The international community’s silence in these moments speaks volumes. The Biden administration’s refusal to send political representatives to the Games in response to ongoing violations in Xinjiang is a significant clarion call – a demand for accountability that we must see and hear repeated in the face of any injustice, for as long as it takes to hold power to account. Allowing the Chinese government to paper over their atrocious human rights record is not an option.”

Read more:

“Like We Were Enemies in a War,” China’s Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang (Amnesty International, June 2021)

Contact: Gabby Arias, [email protected]