Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said most of the governments of the 90 countries participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics (Beijing) did not choose to join the diplomatic boycott of the event.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are among the countries that recently announced their diplomatic boycott of the Games, which will be held between February 4-20 in Beijing, due to China’s human rights record, a stance the Chinese government has described as a “political one.”
In the European Union, countries like France are seeking a common response from the bloc, but the bloc is divided over support for a diplomatic boycott, fearing Chinese retaliation that could hurt trade.
“There are countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, that have made this decision,” Bach told German broadcaster ZDF last Tuesday night.
“Many other countries, not just several countries, if we consider that 90 National Olympic Committees (NOC) will be present at the Games, it is likely that there will be more than 70 or even more than 80 Olympic Committees whose governments have not made such announcements,” he said. .
“But they all have one thing in common, which is that they support their Olympic teams. […] So that their athletes can live out their Olympic dreams,” Bach said.
Human rights groups have long criticized the IOC for awarding China to host the Games for the second time, as the human rights situation did not improve after the 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing).
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