Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the country will join the United States in boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
In Beijing, an outdoor screen displays the slogan for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, “Together for a Shared Future.” Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that, like the United States, Canada will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. (AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that his country, like the United States, will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on diplomatic grounds.
“Canada remains gravely disturbed by reports of human rights breaches in China,” Trudeau tweeted after making the announcement in Ottawa. As a result, we will not be sending diplomats to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. We’ll keep supporting our athletes who put forth the effort to compete on a global platform.”
The boycott was predicted, as Canada’s main allies, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, had already done so.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa responded with a harsh rebuke. According to a statement attributed to a spokesperson, Trudeau “falsely alleged” that the Chinese government was violating human rights and “decided on the diplomatic embargo based on this groundless accusation.”
“The Chinese side expresses its great discontent and resolute opposition to this,” according to the statement. “The Chinese side has registered harsh objections with the Canadian side.”
It also accused Canada and other Western governments of “flagrantly engaging in political manoeuvring” based on “ideological biases, lies, and rumours” in order to “disrupt the peaceful progress of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.” “The Canadian side’s hype about a “diplomatic boycott” without even being invited to the Games is just self-indulgence,” it continued.
“Canada must immediately cease politicising sports, stop interrupting and undermining the Beijing Winter Olympics, or risk self-inflicted disgrace,” the report said.
Since senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was jailed in Vancouver in 2018 on charges of allegedly cheating a financial institution to circumvent Iranian regime sanctions, relations between Canada and China have deteriorated. China detained two Canadians, including a former diplomat, a few days later. This was referred to by Trudeau as “hostage diplomacy.”
The two were released in September this year in what was considered as a prisoner exchange, and Meng flew back to China after agreeing to a plea agreement with American prosecutors after more than 1,000 days in captivity and being charged with spying.
