China asks US to refrain from interfering in Winter Olympics amid calls for boycott


China asks US to refrain from interfering in Winter Olympics amid calls for boycott

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

As the United States of America leads the call for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China has urged the US to refrain from interfering. In a US-led crusade against the Winter Olympics, as many as five countries have announced a boycott of the Games, scheduled from February 4 onwards.

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According to a news release on the Foreign Ministry’s website, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi interacted over a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday. During the interaction, Wang demanded the U.S. end “interference” in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The United States should stop interfering with the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue, and stop creating all kinds of anti-China ‘circles’,” the Chinese Foreign Minister said, as cited in a foreign ministry statement.

The US’ diplomatic boycott means it will be not sending officials to the Games while there are no restrictions on the participation of players. The boycott is a protest over China’s detention of Uyghur and other Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, along with crackdowns on human rights elsewhere in the country.

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China receives visa applications from US officials to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics

2022 Winter Olympics is scheduled to start on February 4 in Beijing.
2022 Winter Olympics is scheduled to start on February 4 in Beijing.

Weeks after the United States of America announced its plans of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China reveals that it has received diplomatic visa applications from US officials. The US had stated that they will not be sending an official US delegation to the Games.

Yet, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian revealed on Monday that they have received visa applications from US officials. “What I can confirm is that the Chinese side has received the visa application from the concerned U.S. officials,” Zhao told during a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The Chinese foreign minister went on to assure that the visa requests would be handled with “international practice, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity”. According to a South China Morning Post report, the US government had recently submitted visa applications for its 18 officials to attend the Winter Games.

Now with regard to the U.S. request to send a team of government officials to China and their visa applications, the Chinese side will handle them in accordance with international customary practice, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity,” he said.

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Also Read | Australia joins the US in diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China