Several Western countries – including the United States – have already announced their diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics (Olympics), organized in February in Beijing, to protest against Chinese human rights violations. If Japan has refrained from talking about a boycott, it will not send ministerial officials to China either, the Japanese government announced on Friday, December 24.
A spokesperson, Hirokazu Matsuno, said:
“Japan believes that it is important that the common values shared by the international community, such as freedom, human rights and the rule of law, are also respected in China. “
On the other hand, the president of the Organizing Committee for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, Seiko Hashimoto, will visit the site, as well as the president of the Japanese Olympic committee, Yasuhiro Yamashita, specified the government spokesperson. Mme Hashimoto will go to Beijing “To express gratitude and respect to the athletes and others who supported the Tokyo Games” organized last summer, he added.
Diplomatic boycott of four countries
Japan made this decision as a result of“A thorough examination” of the question. It came after the US, UK, Australia and Canada this month announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games – due to be held Feb. 4-20 – to denounce human rights abuses in China.
China has warned these four Western countries, which will therefore send athletes to the Olympics but not official officials, that they would pay “The price of their bad move”, without specifying what reprisals were envisaged. On Friday, the spokesperson in Tokyo pointed out that “The Japanese government did not intend to use a particular expression concerning the presence of Japan” at the Winter Olympics in China. In addition, he noted that the announcement of the American government did not include the expression “diplomatic boycott”.
Japan, host of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, finds itself in a delicate diplomatic position: the United States and China are two major trading partners. The Archipelago had so far not made its position known.
“Neutrality” of the International Olympic Committee
South Korea, another ally of the United States, announced early last week that it would not diplomatically boycott the Olympics, citing the need to continue to cooperate with China. For its part, Russia sees the boycott as an attempt to politicize the event and has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will go to Beijing.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) invoked its “Neutrality” on the matter, declining to comment on “Purely political decisions” and especially rejoicing at the absence of a sports boycott.
According to human rights organizations, at least one million Uighurs and other Turkish-speaking minorities, mainly Muslims, are being held in camps in Xinjiang. China is accused of forcibly sterilizing women there and imposing forced labor. The United States denounces “Genocide” on this subject. Beijing claims that the camps are in fact “Vocational training centers” to fight radicalization.
China regularly accuses the United States of using the issue of human rights to thwart its economic development and contest its growing place in international affairs. Beijing also lambasted the G7 and the European Union (EU), which on Monday announced their “Deep concern” after “Erosion” of democracy observed in Hong Kong last weekend during the local legislative elections.
