USA, China and the Olympic Games: Gold Medals in the Enemy

The Winter Olympics are also the subject of controversy in the USA because of the alleged human rights violations in China. Like other countries, the US will boycott the games diplomatically.

China is an issue with which US politicians distinguish themselves: Last May, the US Congress held a hearing on human rights violations in China and the Winter Games. MP Michael Waltz even brought up an initiative calling for the games to be reallocated.

But in the end, no one in Washington was willing to explain to the Team USA athletes that they would have to forego their participation in Beijing. Instead, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced a so-called diplomatic boycott.

Psaki means, for example, China’s Uyghur re-education camps and forced labor in Xinjiang province. China has denied these accusations and is now celebrating the Winter Games with autocrats like Russian President Putin.

“Politics could do more”

Sophie Richardson from Human Rights Watch thinks the US government’s decision was the right one. Richardson was a guest at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington: “Boycotting the games completely would unfairly punish the athletes,” she says. “They didn’t decide in which country the competitions will be held. But to send politicians while the Chinese leadership continues to commit human rights crimes, in our opinion, would politically legitimize China’s behavior in an unacceptable way.”

But politicians can do more, says Richardson. For example, launch investigations into Chinese politicians who are proven to be responsible for human rights violations. That would further escalate the confrontation with China.

Criticism of sponsors of the Winter Games

And so politicians in the US tend to focus more on the sponsors. On US companies like Coca Cola, Intel, Procter&Gamble or Airbnb, some of which have been financing the Games as partners of the International Olympic Committee for decades.

Anna Ashton from the Asia Policy Institute defends the companies:

It’s a fine line for the sponsors, says Mark Conrad in an interview with the AP news agency. Conrad teaches sports law – and sports ethics in New York. Companies want to be visible, Conrad explains, but avoid getting too close to Chinese politics. And so business and politics in the USA are trying to find compromises. They will not achieve a change in the behavior of the Chinese Communist Party in this way.