Global fear of China’s authoritarian rise is overshadowing the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, calling for a boycott.
Why it matters: By openly ignoring human rights standards while claiming leadership of the international system, China is breaking the foundation upon which global traditions such as the Olympic Games are based.
- Democratic governments are concerned that allowing Beijing to host the Olympics without protest would further entrench China’s authoritarianism at home and abroad.
- The US and its partners are also concerned about China’s emergence as a rival amid a growing sense of democratic vulnerability, giving the 2022 Games a new undercurrent of geopolitical fear.
Driving the news: A coalition of 180 rights groups has called for a traditional boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, citing human rights violations against ethnic minorities in China.
- But the White House said on Feb. 3 that the Biden administration currently has no plans to boycott the games or support the move to another country.
The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing were China’s first Olympic Games and many Chinese, both at home and around the world, felt a tremendous sense of pride and patriotism. That enthusiasm gave the games an unforgettable feeling of joy and hope.
- The whole country mobilized for the occasion, staged stunning opening ceremonies and spared no expense in building new facilities.
- Western democracies hoped the Olympics would mark a new era of democratic reform for China. In the short term it seemed to work. China will open its doors to the world in the months leading up to the games, giving journalists unusually easy access.
Yes but: Human rights activists criticized China in 2008, citing China’s repression in Tibet and its support for Sudan during the Darfur genocide.
- During the torch relay before the games began, pro-Tibet activists staged protests in more than a dozen cities around the world, while the Chinese quietly helped organize counter-protests.
- In a January 2008 New York Times column entitled “Chinese Genocide Olympics,” Nicholas Kristof wrote that “Beijing, in exchange for access to Sudanese oil, is funding, diplomatic and diplomatic weapons for the first genocide of the 21st century. supplies.”
Now China is actually committing genocide, not just turn it on. In January, the US State Department ruled that the Chinese Communist Party’s continued policy of mass internment and forced assimilation of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang amounts to genocide.
- But unlike other regimes that have committed genocide in recent decades, including Myanmar and Rwanda, China is the second most powerful country in the world and is on track to catch up with the US economy within a decade.
- Beijing leaders are using that weight to silence countries, impose heavy costs on governments and organizations determined to protest China, and give the appearance of global approval for its policies.
Numerous countries have boycotted Olympics to protest against the host nation, but there is also a precedent that the IOC itself is taking action. It banned South Africa from 1964 to 1988 due to its apartheid policy.
The big picture: It’s harder than ever for an Olympic boycott to get to grips with.
- Even if liberal democracies could organize one, such a response would highlight the fundamental paradox that is creating China’s global influence: either participate on China’s terms, or withdraw and create smaller alternatives.
While a full boycott of Beijing 2022 seems unlikely, some Uyghur and Tibetan advocacy groups are working together to push for a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022.
- A diplomatic boycott would allow athletes to compete, while diluting some of the soft power that hosting an Olympics can bring.
What is going on: “The International Olympic Committee won’t talk to you if you don’t want the games to take place. If you try to boycott the games, the broadcasters won’t talk to you, athletes won’t talk to you, sponsors have won.” not on, ”said Pete Irwin, program officer at the Uyghur Human Rights Project.
- As a more realistic alternative, Irwin said, they are asking governments to “make an easy choice not to send a high-ranking official to the games.”
The IOC itself is also facing anger. Mandie McKeown, executive director of the International Tibet Network, which also advocates a diplomatic boycott, told Axios that she is “deeply disappointed” with the IOC for refusing to address China’s massive human rights violations.
- In a July 2015 letter addressed to the International Tibet Network in response to the group’s concerns, the IOC’s communications director wrote that “with regard to Beijing 2022, assurances were given” regarding human rights, labor rights and the right to demonstrate.
- McKeown said she has repeatedly asked the IOC to prove that such insurance policies have been made and what exactly those insurance policies were. The IOC never provided this information, McKeown said.
It comes down to: “The IOC knows that Chinese authorities are arbitrarily detaining Uyghurs and other Muslims, expanding state surveillance and silencing countless peaceful critics,” said Sophie Richardson, director of Human Rights Watch China last week.
- “Failure to publicly confront Beijing’s grave human rights violations makes a mockery of its own commitments and claims that the Olympics are a ‘force for good’.”