The ministry called for all discourse by US politicians about “forced labour and genocide” in XUAR to be regarded as lies spread by “certain small elements set against China”
Chinese authorities are extremely unhappy with the United States’ attempts to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from the Chinese capital to another location for a “boycott due to Beijing’s violation of human rights” and have protested to the American side about it. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.
“It has come to our attention that some US senators are slandering China on the basis of political prejudice”, – he told a regular briefing. – “China protests strongly about this as such actions seriously undermine the Olympic spirit and infringe on the interests of athletes worldwide.”
The Chinese diplomat said all speculation by US politicians about “forced labour and genocide” in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) should be considered lies spread by “certain small elements aligned against China”.
Last week, US lawmakers Jeff Merkley (Democratic Senator from Oregon) and James McGovern (Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts) wrote to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach calling for the 2022 Winter Olympics to be postponed to be held in Beijing and possibly another venue due to the human rights situation in the PRC.
The XXIV Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from 4 to 20 February 2022. China’s capital was chosen for it at the IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on 31 July 2015. Calls to boycott the Winter Games have previously been made by politicians in the European Union, Canada and the United States, and by representatives of nearly 200 human rights organisations from various countries. They justify such a move by the need to take action against the Chinese authorities, who allegedly violate human rights in XUAR in northwestern China, where Uighur Muslims are allegedly oppressed.