The State Department on Tuesday threw cold water on the idea that the U.S. would boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“Our position on the 2022 Olympics has not changed. We have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to reporters, hours after State Dept. spokesman Ned Price had another message.
“The State Department Spokesperson did not say we had, contrary to some reporting. As the Department said, we regularly discuss common concerns vis-à-vis the PRC with our allies and partners. We will continue to do so, cognizant that a shared approach will always be in our interest.”
Reports circulated earlier that the State Department was considering a possible joint boycott, as calls have grown for the U.S. to back out of the Chinese-hosted event due to human rights violations.
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“It is something that we certainly wish to discuss,” Price said. “A coordinated approach will not only be in our interest but also in the interest of our allies and partners,” he added.
“We’re talking about 2022, and we are still in April of 2021, so these Games remain some time away,” Price said. “I wouldn’t want to put a time frame on it, but these discussions are underway.”
In a tweet following the briefing, Price said the department doesn’t have any announcements on the Olympics, but “2022 remains a ways off, but we will continue to consult closely with allies and partners to define our common concerns and establish our shared approach to the PRC.”
RICK SCOTT CALLS FOR BIDEN’S ‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’ ON MOVING 2022 OLYMPICS FROM CHINA
The Olympics are set to begin Feb. 4 of next year.
Earlier, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called on President Biden to offer the U.S. to host the games.
“Last week, we saw President Biden, so-called social and community leaders and corporations alike cave to lies about Georgia’s new election law,” Scott said in a statement Tuesday. “Lies being spread by radical Democrats and the woke left mob. Biden supports moving the MLB game out of Georgia, yet refuses to call on the International Olympic Committee to move the Olympics out of Communist China – which is committing a genocide against the Uyghurs.”
Scott slammed the Chinese Communist Party’s “atrocious acts,” saying they “can’t be ignored” and that China “can’t be allowed to whitewash its crimes on an international stage.”
“President Biden has immense power to help facilitate the relocation of the games, which I have urged him to do,” Scott said. “If Biden truly stands for human rights, he will immediately begin this process by offering to host the games in the United States and providing the necessary federal resources to get this done.”
Group, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, DOW, General Electric, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Toyota and Visa – to demand the International Olympics Committee move the games.
A coalition of 150 human rights campaigners also issued an open letter to sponsors asking them to drop their support for the 2022 games.
While the White House has not directly weighed in on the games, the Biden administration last month imposed new sanctions on Chinese government officials over “serious human rights abuse” against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and warned that China will continue to face consequences should the “atrocities” continue.
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The White House has said it continues “to have grave concerns against China’s crimes against humanity and genocide” on Uyghurs.
Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in February and outlined his “core concerns” with China’s “aggressive activities and abuses,” according to senior administration officials.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.