THEhe Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, scheduled for February 2022, will indeed be able to count on the diplomatic presence of France. Unlike the United States, Canada, Australia or the United Kingdom, members of the government will be present during the event, announced Jean-Michel Blanquer Thursday, December 9 on BFMTV. “France will not boycott”, explained the Minister of National Education, specifying nevertheless that he would not make the trip on a personal basis. In any case, it is Roxana Maracineanu, Minister for Sports, who should represent France in Beijing.
Almost at the same time, China warned on Thursday that the four Western countries that chose to diplomatically boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics would pay “the price.” The United Kingdom and Canada joined the United States and Australia on Wednesday in the “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Games, another setback for the Chinese regime accused by the West of trampling on the rights of the United States. male, especially in his predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang (Northwest). These countries will send athletes to the Games, but no officials.
“The use of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada to the stage of the Olympic Games for purposes of political manipulation is unpopular and amounts to isolating oneself”, estimated in front of the press Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. “They will inevitably pay the price for this bad move,” he said, in response to whether Beijing was considering specific retaliatory measures. The spokesperson said his country had not sent out invitations to the countries in question. “Whether their official representatives come or not, the Beijing Winter Games will be a success,” he said.
The Olympics are scheduled for February 4 to 20, but, due to restrictions imposed by China on the entry of foreigners in the name of the fight against Covid-19, few world politicians are expected to travel to Beijing. With the notable exception of Russian President Vladimir Putin who accepted the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. For its part, France will send its Minister for Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, and will not “do” a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, Minister of Education and Sports Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Thursday. Paris had initially indicated that it “would coordinate” with the other countries of the European Union on the attitude to adopt.
Trudeau troubled
“We are deeply troubled by the human rights violations by the Chinese government,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference on Wednesday. A few hours earlier in London, during the weekly question-and-answer session in front of Parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that there would be “indeed a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics”.
There are many sources of tension between London and Beijing, between respect for human rights in Xinjiang, decline in freedoms in Honkong and the exclusion of Chinese giant Huawei from British 5G infrastructures. Before the British and Canadian announcements, the United States’ decision had angered Beijing, and Canberra’s contempt.
“Everyone does not care whether they are coming or not,” Mr. Wang had launched Wednesday in the direction of Australia. Asked about the risk that these cascading decisions pose to the Olympic Games, the Committee “The integrity of the Games is the integrity of sports competitions, which is why our attention is fully focused on the athletes”, insisted Wednesday in front of the press Thomas Bach, the boss of the instance.
According to human rights organizations, at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkish-speaking minorities, mainly Muslims, are being held in camps in Xinjiang. China is accused of forcibly sterilizing women there and imposing forced labor. The United States denounces genocide on this subject. Beijing says the camps are in fact “vocational training centers” to fight radicalization.
