After the United States, Australia too announced diplomatic boycott of upcoming Beijing Olympics. In a statement today, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government will not send officials to the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The United States announced its boycott on Monday, citing China’s human rights “atrocities”, fuelling anger in China, which warned of “resolute countermeasures” in response.
Despite the threat, Morrison said Canberra will join the diplomatic boycott.
“Australian government officials (will), therefore, not be going to China for those Games. Australian athletes will, though,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
The formal boycott risks further straining Australia’s relations with China, its largest trading partner, which soured after Canberra introduced foreign interference laws, banned Huawei Technologies from its 5G broadband network, and called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. A recent decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact has added to the tension.
Morrison also cited alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and Beijing’s unwillingness to meet Australian officials for talks as key to the decision to boycott.
“There’s been no obstacle to that occurring on our side, but the Chinese government has consistently not accepted those opportunities for us to meet about these issues,” he said.
