China has threatened to impose sanctions against Britain and any other countries that boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over the alleged ‘genocide’ of Uighur Muslims.
British MPs, including Liberal Democratic leader Ed Davey, called for a boycott of Team GB against Beijing’s alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ against Uighurs who were arrested and subjected to political ‘re-education’ in Xinjiang.
But Hu Xijin, editor of the state-controlled Global Times, warned on Sunday that “China will seriously sanction any country that follows such an appeal.”
“Boycotting the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, an unpopular idea, will not receive wide support,” he said.
Mr Davey responded today, saying that ‘we cannot be intimidated by the Chinese government’ – adding that ‘we must use all the levers we have’.
A year to the end: Olympic rings will be lit at the Beijing Olympic Tower last Friday, a year before the start of the 2022 winter show
Liberal Democratic leader Ed Davey, pictured, countered the threat of sanctions today by saying that “we cannot be intimidated by the Chinese government”
Lib Dems said over the weekend that British athletes should not be ‘part of an propaganda exercise’ for communist China in 2022.
Davey compared the upcoming Games to a notorious 1930s photo, in which England’s football team saluted Nazis before a friendly in Berlin.
“Nobody can be proud of their past failures to act, so today we must act,” he said.
In response to the threat of sanctions today, he said: ‘What we are hearing from China is pure and simple bullying and we cannot be intimidated by the Chinese government as they commit ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“Nobody wants sanctions, but we cannot allow our athletes, companies and our country to be intimidated by a government that is committing genocide.”
He added: ‘Do we have to ask ourselves if we could look future generations in the eye and say that we did everything we could against what appears to be a mass crime against humanity?
‘We made some very reasonable requests. The entire world community is making reasonable requests and the Chinese government should not hide from that.
“If they have nothing to hide, they should allow independent UN monitors to come in and verify or not these allegations. We saw reports from the international media, human rights organizations and the BBC showing the evidence. Chinese authorities must be held accountable. ‘
Labor MP Chris Bryant also called for a boycott, telling the Guardian that ‘I just can’t see why anyone would want to go to the Beijing Winter Olympics’.
“I find it simply extraordinary that the British government does not appear to have a firm stance,” he said.
“I think the British Olympic Association should call for a change to the Winter Olympics and, if it doesn’t move, we should boycott it.”
A watchtower in a high-security facility in Xinjiang, where a million people were reportedly detained in re-education facilities that were compared to Nazi concentration camps
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did not rule out a boycott of the 2022 Games when questioned by a parliamentary committee last year.
“Generally speaking, my instinct is to separate sport from diplomacy and politics, but there comes a point where that may not be possible,” he told parliamentarians.
“I would say that we will gather the evidence, we will work with our international partners, we will consider in the round what additional measures we need to take.”
Human rights groups have raised concerns about the 2022 event since it was awarded to Beijing in 2015 – seven years after the city hosted the summer Olympics.
Since then, Western relations with China have deteriorated on a long list of problems, including Uighurs, but also the coronavirus and Hong Kong pandemic.
But the United States does not plan to boycott the Games, with the Olympic and Paralympic Committee of America saying it is opposed to such a move.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that “we are not talking about changing our stance or plans with regard to the Beijing Olympics.”
The United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, with many US allies joining in the protest.
This led the USSR and most of its Eastern Bloc allies to retaliate when the Games were held in Los Angeles four years later.
But Britain stayed out of the geopolitical fray, participating in both events, and also rejected calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Trump-era US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) used his last hours in office to officially label China’s treatment of Uighurs as “genocide”
The UK government says there is ‘growing’ evidence of ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang, including forced labor and illegal detention.
China is believed to have imprisoned more than a million people in a vast network of detention centers that have been compared to Nazi concentration camps.
Human rights groups say Uighurs are subjected to forced sterilization and political brainwashing in the camps.
In his last hours in office, the Donald Trump administration last month officially labeled the treatment of Uighurs by China as “genocide”.
“We are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy the Uighurs by the Chinese party-state,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Joe Biden’s administration said it would review the “genocide” decision for procedural reasons, but did not question the content of the allegations.
China rejects the accusations, denying the existence of ‘re-education camps’ and claiming that Uighurs live in ‘peace and contentment, unity and harmony’.
Beijing also claims that the Uighur population has grown in recent decades and uses it as if it were proof that the claims of “genocide” cannot be true.