Key Points
- Pressure is mounting for athletes and politicians to boycott the 2022 Olympic Games in China.
- China has called on American business leaders to speak up on its behalf.
- President Biden is considering a diplomatic boycott; Tom Cotton is calling for a full boycott.
Not everyone wants to play nice with China —and they aren’t happy about it.
The Washington Post is reporting China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng held a conference call with U.S. business executives this week. Xie is trying to encourage companies with interests in China to “make a positive contribution” to the Olympic Games. This is, essentially, China’s SOS.
Notice how Xie reached out to U.S. businesses, not government officials.
“Boycotting the Olympics for political reasons harms the interests of athletes, violates the shared ideals and aspirations of the international society, and is unpopular,” Xie said.
But it’s not really unpopular, is it Xie? Even the stuffed shirts in Washington D.C. are doing it. President Biden says a diplomatic boycott is “something we’re considering” to protest China’s human rights abuses. (“diplomatic boycott” means the athletes still get to go, suits stay home.)
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) is taking it a step further, calling for a full boycott of the games: “No athletes. No administration officials. No corporate sponsors” —a diplomatic boycott is “the least, the absolute bare minimum, that any civilized nation would do.”
Athletes are weighing in on the boycott, as well —especially in light of the recent disappearance – and strange reappearance – of Chinese women’s tennis star Peng Shuai. Shuai mysteriously vanished for several days after making sexual assualt accusations against a high-ranking official. The WTA has since cut ties in China, leaving millions in revenue on the table.
“The WTA is on the right side of history in supporting our players.” tennis champion and social activist Billie Jean King said in a tweet.
NBA star and Boston Celtics big man Enes Kanter Freedom agrees with King.
“I feel like every major league in the United States should take notes and take examples of what WTA is doing,” Freedom told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “Everybody knows that [Shuai’s] not safe. She’s not free to talk. She’s not free to travel. And, you know, China’s Communist Party is trying to control the narrative about her,” Freedom added.
And he’s right —they are trying to control the narrative. According to the Washington Post, “the Chinese state media has dismissed calls for boycotts of the upcoming Winter Games as an ‘illogical farce.’”
“A boycott of Beijing 2022 on so-called human rights grounds is not against China itself, but actually targets the Olympics Movement,” state-run Xinhua News Agency wrote in a statement.
Not against China? Targets the Olympic Movement?
Sounds like Xinhua News is going for the gold medal in wagging the dog.
