The United States has made no decision yet on whether to attend the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted by China and continues consultations on the matter with foreign partners, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) The United States has made no decision yet on whether to attend the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted by China and continues consultations on the matter with foreign partners, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Wednesday.
The Biden administration faces calls from various quarters to boycott the 2022 Olympic Games over China's alleged human rights abuses.
"We've heard a lot of those concerns and we will continue to talk to other countries around the world to hear what they're thinking, and at the appropriate time we'll decide what to do. But for now, we're just listening to the concerns we've heard expressed from many countries around the world," Blinken told Japan's Nippon tv.
Blinken, who is touring Japan and South Korea, has accused China of genocide against the Uyghur ethnic minority - an allegation rejected by the Chinese authorities.
"We've heard the many concerns around the world about the prospect of those Olympics given the actions that China has taken both at home in terms of its abuse of human rights when it comes to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, other minorities, or, of course, what's happening in Hong Kong, the increasing tensions as a result of its actions on - with regard to Taiwan," Blinken said.
The US Secretary of State also promised to support whatever decision the Japanese government makes regarding the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The competition was to take place in 2020, but the host country postponed it untill at least this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We really defer to the government of Japan, and we'll support whatever decisions it makes," Blinken said, adding that the details of the potential US participation is a question for both national and international Olympic Committees.
