“The
US,
Australia,
Britain
and
Canada’s
use
of
the
Olympic
platform
for
political
manipulation
is
unpopular
and
self-isolating,
and
they
will
inevitably
pay
the
price
for
their
wrongdoing,”
Foreign
Ministry
spokesperson
Wang
Wenbin
said.
The
remarks
came
a
day
after
Australia,
Britain
and
Canada
joined
the
United
States
in
barring
their
government
officials
from
attending
the
Games,
citing
China’s
human
rights
violations.
France
calls
for
common
European
boycott
stance
French
Foreign
Affairs
Minister
Jean-Yves
Le
Drian
said
Thursday
that
a
common
European
stand
regarding
the
diplomatic
boycott
of
the
Games
was
necessary.
Le
Drian’s
comment
came
shortly
after
French
Education
Minister
Jean-Michel
Blanquer
said
Paris
will
not
join
the
boycott.
“Sports
is
a
world
in
itself,
which
must
be
protected
from
political
interference,
otherwise
[…]
we
can
end
up
by
killing
the
competition,”
Blanquer
said
on
French
broadcaster
BFM
TV.
Nor
does
Germany’s
Olympic
Sports
Confederation
(DOSB)
approve
of
a
diplomatic
boycott.
DOSB
Vice-President
Stephan
Mayer
told
DW
he
was
“not
so
sure”
a
diplomatic
boycott
“is
the
right
way.”
Mayer
said
he
does
believe
it
“very
important
to
use
the
Winter
Olympics
in
Beijing
in
order
to
discuss
certain
issues
like
the
rule
of
law,
and
especially
the
human
rights
issues,
with
the
government
of
China.”
Amid
reports
that
Germany
has
not
yet
officially
registered
a
diplomatic
delegation
to
send
to
the
Games,
Mayer
said
there
is
still
time.
“We
have
a
new
government
now
in
Germany,”
Mayer
told
DW.
“I
think
we
certainly
still
have
the
chance
to
send
a
political
or
diplomatic
delegation
to
the
Winter
Olympics.”
IOC
criticizes
boycott,
rights
groups
call
for
it
While
the
diplomatic
boycott
does
not
affect
the
athletes’ ability
to
compete
in
the
Games,
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC)
chief
Thomas
Bach
warned
that
the
politicization
could
threaten
the
future
of
the
Olympics.
“If
we
would
start
to
take
political
sides
on
one
way
or
the
other
we
would
never
get
all
the
206
national
Olympic
committees
to
the
Olympic
Games,”
Bach
said
after
an
IOC
Executive
Committee
meeting
on
Wednesday.
Rights
groups
have
called
for
a
full
boycott
of
the
2022
Beijing
Winter
Games,
citing
Chinese
human
rights
abuses
against
its
Uyghur
minority
in
the
northwest
Xinjiang
province,
which
some
have
called
genocide.
Human
Rights
Watch’s
China
director
Sophie
Richardson
said
a
boycott
is
a
“crucial
step
toward
challenging
the
Chinese
government’s
crimes
against
humanity
targeting
Uyghurs
and
other
Turkic
communities.”
fb/sms
(Reuters,
AFP)
Source:
DW
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