Beijing considers a trip by 18 US officials as defeating the purpose of a boycott against the Games. Washington believes the listed people are not official representatives but rather will attend the Games for security and medical support.
The applications were submitted after US President Joe Biden confirmed in late November he was considering a US diplomatic boycott of the Games. On December 6, his administration announced it would not send an official US delegation to the Games as a statement against China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang”.
The US further raised the pressure on Thursday when Biden signed into law a measure that would effectively ban all imports from Xinjiang over allegations of forced labour.
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A US State Department spokesperson reiterated in an email response that the US would not have official representation to the Games.
“The president has made his views clear about China’s human rights situation. Beijing continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” the spokesperson said. “We will not have any diplomatic or official representation.”
02:05
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to attend Beijing Winter Olympics amid diplomatic boycotts
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland said this month the US would send about 230 athletes to the Olympics and 65 athletes to the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Hirshland said the USOPC was briefing the delegation on China’s rules and regulations and that the committee had “a very high degree of confidence in the safety and security plans that are put in place” for American Olympians in China.
The recent sexual assault allegations made by Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai against a former top Chinese politician and uncertainty over her safety has added another layer of concerns overshadowing the upcoming Games that start on February 4.
Jurgen Mittag, a sports policy expert at the German Sport University Cologne, said politics and human rights concerns had inevitably become intertwined with major sporting events in recent years. But he believes lower-ranking officials sent by participating countries “would be primarily considered as technical support – not as a political act”.
Mittag said: “It is striking that in the last five-10 years …. human rights or equality have become increasingly important in sociopolitical debates. Since major sporting events offer a global stage for political debates, corresponding demands are also represented here.”