The threat is becoming clearer. It is also gaining ground. After the United States, a second great power in the Olympic movement is raising without tongue in cheek the scenario of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Australia could, in turn, announce its decision in the coming days. decision not to send any official delegation to China for the next Olympic meeting.
The information is revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald. The daily ensures that “ Australia is considering not sending government officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics next year, in response to a series of calls for a diplomatic boycott from a growing number of MPs"
Always according to Sydney Morning Herald, the option of a diplomatic boycott would be the subject of a consensus between the two main political forces in the country, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. It would have been reinforced by the recent affair of the tennis player Peng Shuai.
Australia would therefore follow in the footsteps of the United States. The government in Canberra would even wait for the decision of the American administration before advancing an additional pawn. As a reminder, Joe Biden said last week “ consider » a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, in response to the human rights violations perpetrated by the Beijing regime in Tibet, Hong Kong and against the Uighur community.
The Sydney daily suggests that the Australians would hesitate to use the diplomatic weapon alone, but would be ready to do so following the Americans. In such a scenario, Canada and the United Kingdom could also join the movement.
Relations between Australia and China have been strained to near breakdown in recent years. On the commercial front, Australian authorities have banned the Chinese group Huawei Technologies from its 5G Internet network. In response, Beijing imposed tariffs on a large number of Australian products.
More recently, Australia called for an independent investigation into China into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the agreement between Canberra, Washington and London for the construction of nuclear submarines, in addition to causing a crisis with France, has greatly upset China. A diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games would further increase tensions between the two countries.
The Chinese reaction? On Thursday, November 25, it took the rather unexpected form of an article from the official press agency. Xinhua. Presented as a “ comment", he very directly evokes the threat of a boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. But with a resolutely Chinese prism.
« Small minority of politicians and groups threaten to boycott Beijing 2022 over alleged human rights concerns in China, écrit Xinhua. But make no mistake: the boycott, whether of the entire Games or the opening ceremony, is a way of using the long-awaited winter sports event as a political tool . And one thing is clear: it only harms athletes in their own country"
The official Chinese agency recalls that the Beijing Winter Games will take place without foreign spectators, due to the health crisis. “ It is therefore the athletes who would be the most disappointed if their political leaders decided to boycott the opening ceremony. she wrote.
Article by Xinhua then lists a litany of future competitors determined to live a unique and unforgettable Olympic experience next February in Beijing. Among them, Polish speed skater Zbigniew Brodka, Olympic champion at the Sochi Games in 2014, returned to competition for the Beijing Games. With these words, spoken last month and echoed by Xinhua : " For me, returning to China would be sentimental. »
70 days before the opening ceremony, this Friday, November 26, the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games has not gone beyond the threat stage. But only one prominent dignitary has already announced his presence at the opening ceremony: Vladimir Putin, personal guest of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
