The United States is not yet considering the possibility of boycotting the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, while it is possible that such a decision may be made. This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in an interview with CBS, which aired on May 2.
“At the moment we are not focused on the boycott issue. This is simply not what we are currently thinking about. It is still a year away from her, ”he said.
To the clarifying question of the TV presenter about whether a boycott by the United States of the Beijing Olympics is possible, Blinken replied: “Never say that something is impossible.”
Earlier, the United States has already announced its intentions to consider a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games. So, on April 6, the head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, announced that the United States, together with its foreign allies and partners, are planning to consider the idea of a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in China.
At the same time, on March 11, it was reported that the US National Olympic Committee opposed the idea of a boycott of the Olympic Games, which will be held in Beijing in 2022.
The head of the organization, Susan Lyons, drew attention to the fact that such boycotts, in particular, the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980, were not effective.
Calls to boycott the Winter Games to be hosted by China have previously been voiced by Canada, Norway, and representatives of nearly 200 human rights organizations around the world. The reason was the massive repression attributed to Beijing against the Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC.
The XXIV Winter Olympics are scheduled in Beijing from 4 to 20 February 2022. The capital of the PRC was chosen as the venue at the session of the International Olympic Committee in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015.