U.S. Will Not Send Government Officials to Beijing Olympics

WASHINGTON — The United States volition not nonstop immoderate authorities officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics successful Beijing, a slap astatine China for quality rights abuses.

The diplomatic boycott allows American athletes to compete, but it is seen arsenic an affront and 1 of President Biden’s astir nationalist condemnations of Beijing. China said it would respond to specified a boycott with “resolute countermeasures.”

Pressure has been gathering for months from members of Congress successful some parties to clasp China accountable for abuses of the Uyghur Muslims successful Xinjiang and cracking down connected pro-democracy protests successful Hong Kong. Those calls lone intensified aft the disappearance from nationalist beingness of the tennis prima Peng Shuai aft she accused a apical Communist Party person of intersexual assault.

Jen Psaki, the White House property secretary, said the White House did not judge it was due to nonstop a delegation of American officials to February’s games successful the aftermath of “genocide and crimes against humanity” successful Xinjiang.

“We volition not beryllium contributing to the fanfare of the games,” Ms. Psaki said.

Mr. Biden had raised the anticipation of not sending the American delegation aft helium held a virtual gathering past period with China’s leader, Xi Jinping.

That speech was meant to chill boiling tensions betwixt the world’s 2 largest powers. But Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi emerged with small much than pledges to amended practice aft 3 and a fractional hours of talks, contempt a drawstring of communal disagreements.

The diplomatic boycott has been described by immoderate critics of China successful Congress arsenic a mode to clasp Beijing accountable portion not punishing American Olympians.

Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and the president of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the boycott “a almighty rebuke of the Chinese Communist Party’s run of genocide successful Xinjiang.”

“This boycott is simply a indispensable measurement to show our unwavering committedness to quality rights successful the look of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses,” Mr. Menendez said, adding that helium hoped different nations would articulation the United States.

More hawkish members of Congress, including Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, called the determination a “half measure.”

“Bold enactment was required,” Mr. Cotton said. “The United States should afloat boycott the genocide Games successful Beijing.”

But erstwhile attempts to propulsion athletes retired of the Games person fallen flat. The past clip the United States pursued a afloat boycott of the Olympics was successful 1980, erstwhile President Jimmy Carter rallied against allowing athletes to enactment successful the Summer Games successful Moscow to protestation the Soviet Union’s subject beingness successful Afghanistan.

While dozens of countries joined the United States successful that action, astir governmental leaders and sports officials successful the decades since person argued that afloat boycotts lone extremity up punishing athletes and providing talking points for big countries.

Last year, Sarah Hirshland, the main enforcement of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, wrote an unfastened letter addressed to the athletes of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, saying the boycott “had nary interaction connected the planetary authorities of the epoch and alternatively lone harmed you.”

On Monday, Ms. Hirshland said, “We greatly admit the unwavering enactment of the president and his medication and we cognize they volition beryllium cheering america connected from location this winter.”

Ms. Psaki sought to region Mr. Biden’s boycott from the 1980 ban, saying the medication wanted to to condemn the quality rights abuses without punishing athletes.

“I don’t deliberation we felt it was the close measurement to penalize athletes who person been training, preparing for this moment,” Ms. Psaki said.

Beijing has utilized the Olympic Games successful the past to asseverate itself connected the satellite stage, including successful 2008 erstwhile the opening ceremonial served arsenic a mode for the state to tout its economical rejuvenation. The planetary attention, however, did small to amended quality rights successful China. Mr. Biden has said rooting retired specified violations are a important portion of a nationalist information strategy that is focused connected competing with Beijing’s rising economical power and coercive diplomacy.

René Provost, a prof of planetary instrumentality astatine McGill University, said diplomatic boycotts tin assistance to “insert quality rights into the conversation.”

The Olympics are a mode for China to amusement it is “strong and cardinal connected the planetary stage,” Mr. Provost added. “So to enactment quality rights arsenic portion of that representation does interfere with China’s messaging.”

Zhao Lijian of China’s Foreign Ministry said that the United States should “stop politicizing sports” and warned that “China volition instrumentality resolute countermeasures,” but helium gave nary details astir however China mightiness retaliate for the move. He has noted that Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, accepted an invitation from Mr. Xi to the Olympics.

It is not wide whether the United States’ boycott volition unit different countries to travel suit.

Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, said past period that the medication was discussing with allies however they planned to attack the Winter Games successful Beijing, though helium did not specify whether the United States had asked them to articulation a coordinated boycott. The medication has continued the informal discussions implicit the past respective weeks, according to 2 European diplomats progressive successful the discussions.

One diplomat called it a pragmatic determination that makes wide the Biden administration’s displeasure with Beijing’s policies, but did not magnitude to a afloat snub successful bid to permission country for the delicate and ongoing talks betwixt the United States and China. It was not clear, however, whether European governments would besides garbage to nonstop authoritative delegations to the Games, and some diplomats said nary decisions had yet been made.

The calls for a boycott person grown louder implicit the lawsuit of Ms. Peng, the Chinese tennis prima who accused a erstwhile apical authorities authoritative of sexually assaulting her. After the allegation, the Chinese authorities removed astir each references to her connected societal media wrong the country, and she disappeared from nationalist life.

Ms. Peng surfaced past period successful appearances with Chinese officials, though it was unclear however freely she was capable to speak.

The announcement of the U.S. boycott comes up of Mr. Biden’s virtual planetary ideology acme aboriginal this week, an effort to instrumentality a nationalist basal against authoritarianism and corruption. China was not among the much than 100 countries invited to the summit.

Lara Jakes contributed reporting from Washington, and Steven Lee Myers from Seoul.