Liberal Democrats warned China against “international bullying” after an appeal by UK parliamentarians to countries to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics was met with a warning of possible sanctions.
Last week, Ed Davey, leader Lib Dem, joined Labor MP and former Foreign Minister Chris Bryant to demand that the government and the British Olympic Association act against the mass repression of the Muslim Uighur population in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, which activists say is genocide.
The editor of the Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times responded by saying that countries that boycotted the Games could suffer consequences.
“Boycotting the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, an unpopular idea, will not receive wide support”, Hu Xijin tweeted. “IOC [International Olympic Commission] and athletes will object to that, and China will seriously sanction any country that follows such an appeal. “
Although Hu is an editor instead of an official, China often uses state media to spread government messages.
In a letter to China’s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, Chen Wen – longtime ambassador Liu Xiaoming is leaving and his successor has not yet taken office – Davey said he was seeking “an urgent answer” to the statements Hu’s tweet.
“Such an action would be an act of international intimidation and extremely damaging to China’s position in the world,” wrote Davey. “I urge you to immediately clarify the Chinese government’s position on this threat of sanctions.”
In the letter, Davey reiterated his call for a boycott, saying the evidence of genocide against the Uighur people “is now overwhelming.”
He said: “This is why I believe that Britain and our athletes should not participate in the Winter Olympics in China. If we did, knowing what we know, our presence would be seen as a cover for a Chinese government that commits genocide against its own people.
“No country wants to take its athletes out of such important international sporting events, but we cannot compromise when it comes to crimes of this nature.”
There is increasing evidence and testimony of mass abuse against the Uighur people by the Chinese state, including large-scale internment in camps, forced labor, religious repression and reports of systematic rape and mandatory sterilization.
The United Kingdom has so far failed to call the Xinjiang genocide events – and has blocked parliamentary efforts to bar trade deals with the accused countries – although Dominic Raab, the secretary of foreign affairs, has said that this amounts to torture .
Liu, the Chinese ambassador who is leaving office, reached greater prominence in the UK last year when, showing images of prisoners chained to trains in Xinjiang, he told the BBC that the images did not prove any ill-treatment.