China has threatened sanctions against Britain and other countries boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over alleged ‘genocide’ of Uyghur Muslims.
British MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, have called for a boycott of Team GB over Beijing’s alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ against Uyghurs imprisoned in Xinjiang and subjected to political ‘re-education’.
But Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-controlled Global Times, warned on Sunday that “China will seriously sanction any country that follows such a call.”
“Boycotting the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, an unpopular idea, will not receive wide support,” he said.
Mr Davey retaliated today saying that ‘we cannot be bullied by the Chinese government’ – adding that ‘we should use whatever power we have’.
One more year: the Olympic rings will be illuminated at the Olympic Tower in Beijing last Friday, one year before the 2022 winter season begins
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, in the photo, hit back on the sanction threat today, saying ‘we can’t be bullied by the Chinese government’
The Lib Dems said last weekend that British athletes should not be “ part of a propaganda exercise ” for communist China by 2022.
Davey compared the upcoming Games to an infamous 1930s photo of England’s football team saluting Nazi for a friendly in Berlin.
“No one can be proud of the fact that we have not acted in the past, so today we have to act,” he said.
Responding to the threat of sanctions today, he said, ‘What we hear from China is bullying, plain and simple and we cannot be bullied by the Chinese government as they commit ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“Nobody wants sanctions, but we cannot allow our athletes and companies and our country to be bullied by a government that is committing genocide.”
He added: ‘We have to ask ourselves if we can look future generations in the eye and say that we have done everything we could to deal with what appears to be a mass crime against humanity?
“We have made some very reasonable requests. The entire world community is making reasonable requests and the Chinese government must not hide from them.
If they have nothing to hide, they should allow independent UN observers to go in and verify or not verify these claims. We’ve seen coverage from international media, from human rights organizations and the BBC showing the evidence. The Chinese authorities must be held accountable. ‘
Labor MP Chris Bryant has also called for a boycott, telling The Guardian that “I just don’t understand why anyone would want to go to the Winter Olympics in Beijing.”
“I just think it’s extraordinary that the British government doesn’t seem to have a backbone for it,” he said.
“I think the British Olympic Association should call for the Winter Olympics to be moved, and if it doesn’t move, we should boycott it.”
A watchtower at a high-security facility in Xinjiang, where one million people are believed to have been held in re-education facilities likened to Nazi concentration camps
Secretary of State Dominic Raab did not rule out a boycott of the 2022 Games when he was questioned by a parliamentary committee last year.
“In general, my instinct is to separate sports from diplomacy and politics, but there comes a point when that may not be possible,” he told MPs.
“I would say let’s collect the evidence, let’s work with our international partners, let’s see what further action we need to take.”
Human rights groups have raised concerns about the 2022 event since it was awarded to Beijing in 2015 – seven years after the city hosted the Summer Games.
Since then, the West’s relations with China have deteriorated due to a long list of problems, including the Uyghurs, but also the coronavirus pandemic and Hong Kong.
But the US does not currently intend to boycott the Games, with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee saying it is against such a move.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that “we are not currently talking about changing our attitudes or plans regarding the Beijing Olympics.”
The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, with many American allies taking part in the protest.
That prompted the USSR and most of its Eastern Bloc allies to retaliate when the Games were held in Los Angeles four years later.
But Britain stayed out of the geopolitical battle by participating in both events, and also rejected calls to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Trump-era US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) used his last hours in office to officially label China’s treatment of Uyghurs as ‘genocide’
The UK government says there is “growing” evidence of “gross human rights violations” in Xinjiang, including forced labor and illegal detention.
China is said to have locked up more than a million people in an extensive network of detention centers that have been compared to Nazi concentration camps.
Human rights groups say Uyghurs are subjected to forced sterilization and political brainwashing in the camps.
In the closing hours of his tenure, Donald Trump’s administration last month officially labeled China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as ‘genocide’.
“We are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party state,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Joe Biden’s government has said it will review the verdict on ‘genocide’ on procedural grounds, but has not questioned the substance of the charges.
China rejects the allegations, denies the existence of ‘re-education camps’ and claims that Uyghurs live in ‘peace and contentment, unity and harmony’.
Beijing also claims that the Uyghur population has grown in recent decades and uses this as if it proves that the claims about ‘genocide’ cannot be true.