China Tells U.S., Regarding Winter Olympics ‘Diplomatic Boycott,’ You Weren’t Invited Anyway

Dec. 7, 2021 (EIRNS)—Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., responded to the White House’s announcement yesterday of its “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, by saying that

“no invitation has been extended to U.S. politicians whatsoever, so this ‘diplomatic boycott’ simply comes out of nowhere. Such a pretentious act is only a political manipulation and a grave distortion of the spirit of the Olympic Charter. In fact, no one would care whether these people came or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to be successfully held.”

At today’s Foreign Ministry press briefing, spokesman Zhao Lijian had more to say on the subject, when asked about the boycott, charging that the U.S. has violated the “principle of political neutrality enshrined in the Olympic Charter.” Plus, he added, normally government officials get invited to attend the games by their respective national Olympic Committee, not by the host country. So, despite not being invited by China, the U.S. chose to pull a stunt by linking its attendance to the lies and fabrications about Xinjiang “genocide.” Zhao announced that China has made “stern representations” to the U.S. and will take “firm countermeasures.” He concluded with this warning: “[T]he U.S. should stop politicizing sports, and stop disrupting and undermining the Beijing Winter Olympics, lest it should affect bilateral dialogue and cooperation in important areas and international and regional issues.”