Diplomatic Games: On US boycotting Beijing Winter Olympics

The US government said on December 6 that it would stage a “diplomatic boycott” of the Winter Olympics, which begins in Beijing on February 4. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the decision was made because “US diplomatic or official representations would “treat these games as business as usual”. It argued that the Games could not be treated as such because of China’s “human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang”. The announcement came days before US President Joe Biden’s “Summit of Democracy”, which was attended by leaders and representatives from more than 100 countries; China and Russia were not invited. China’s foreign ministry described the boycott as “outright political provocation”, warning that China would take “firm retaliatory measures”. Sharp statements aside, the US move is largely symbolic and unlikely to have any major impact. A diplomatic boycott, meaning there is no official representation, carries much less weight than a full boycott which would have meant the absence of American athletes. While Australia and New Zealand have also announced that their officials will not be present in China, it remains to be seen how much traction the US campaign will gain beyond its allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in India earlier this week, announced that he would be present at the Games, underlining the continued closeness between China and Russia amid their differences with the West.

China has seized on both the US boycott and the democracy summit to launch a counter campaign. This week, China’s government released a white paper on democracy, saying there is “no fixed model” and criticizing the US system for its “money politics”, a message that Beijing officials said. will find sympathetic audiences in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Especially in countries that dropped out of the summit (including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). Meanwhile, India has shown itself a middle ground in this conflict of values, despite the deterioration in ties with China. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the leaders attending the Democracy Summit, New Delhi last month signed a statement by the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China expressing support for the Games. The G20 summit in October stopped doing so, saying only it looked forward to the Games after the US reportedly opposed a strong declaration of support. This week’s exchanges are a reminder of the current state of relations between the world’s two biggest powers, which have been at loggerheads over trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea among other issues, even as their two leaders last month A virtual summit was agreed upon. To manage an increasingly competitive relationship “responsibly”. The task is complicated, with ideological differences adding another element to a relationship already in crisis over trade and geopolitical leverage.