The issue of boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics is a bipartisan one, as reflected by so many members wishing to take action, though the Biden Administration remains slow to do so.
In May, House Speaker Nancy (D-CA) Pelosi testified at a hearing from the the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, "China, Genocide and the Olympics." The speaker proposed a "diplomatic boycott."
Even when the speaker faced criticism from the CCP, the White House emphasized "our position on the Beijing Olympics has not changed," which is that they still are waiting on others.
As a bipartisan form of action from House members, Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) was joined by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Reps. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), and Young Kim (R-CA) for his June 7 resolution.
According to Rep. Gallagher's office, the resolution calls on the International Olympic Committee to:
- Publicly clarify its policies on association of the games with gross human rights violations, including by affirming that “staying above politics” doesn’t mean ignoring mass atrocities;
- Initiate an emergency search process for alternative replacement facilities for the 2022 games should persecution of the Uyghurs and other grave abuses continue; and
- Offer a public set of actionable recourses should the IOC note infringements on the freedom of expression during Olympics games.
"It would be unconscionable for the Biden Administration to allow the 2022 Olympics to continue business as usual. There is a bipartisan, multi-national effort to find a solution that supports the CCP’s millions of victims and the expressions of athletes. President Biden must lead the Free World and support these efforts to ensure the CCP does not have a platform to whitewash its crimes against humanity," Rep. Gallagher said in a statement to Townhall.
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The congressman has been calling for the games to be moved out of Beijing since December 2019.
It’s past time to consider boycotting the 2022 Concentration Camp Olympics. Unless the CCP closes the camps in Xinjiang, the IOC should move or cancel the games. The free world can get started now by laying the groundwork for an alternative games. https://t.co/j8gOAmFE6W
— Rep. Mike Gallagher (@RepGallagher) December 18, 2019
Congressional efforts to boycott the games include the Endless Frontier Act, which passed the Senate 68-32, via Yahoo! Sports:
“It shall be the policy of the United States,” [Section 3312 of the bill] opens, “to implement a diplomatic boycott of the [2022] Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games … and to call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing human rights abuses, including the Uyghur genocide.”
In practice, the bill forbids Secretary of State Antony Blinken from using “federal funds to support or facilitate the attendance of ... any employee of the United States government” at the Games – though it also includes the caveat that Blinken may waive the pledge “in a circumstance in which the Secretary determines a waiver is the national interest.”
As Fox News reported, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who voted against the Endless Frontier Act, is warning of security concerns as well.
In a letter addressed to President Biden on Tuesday, the senator made clear that while he continues to support moving the Games elsewhere, if that is not the case, and the United States does compete, "our government must take all necessary steps to protect American athletes who travel to China."
Concerns laid out in the letter include the CCP's operating of "the world's most invasive domestic surveillance system," that the CCP "considers DNA collection a vital intelligence-gathering objective," and how "the CCP arbitrarily detains Americans and other Western visitors to China."
On this last issue, Sen. Cotton notes, the "State Department has now issued a Level 3 Travel Advisory for China ("Reconsider Travel") because of the Chinese government's use of arbitrary detention and exit bans."
The letter also shares there is particular concern for those who have dared to speak out against the CCP:
Members of the U.S. Olympic delegation could be subject to arbitrary detention in China, particularly those who have spoken out against the Communist Party's genocide of the Uyghurs, repression in Tibet, and takeover of Hong Kong. Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell apparently shares my concerns, stating that "[s]pectators have good reason to beware Xi Jinping's Beijing Winter Olympics ....Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey would be wise not to attend the Beijing Olympics, along with anyone else who Tweeted 'Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.'"
Niki Haley also warned during a meeting with the Republican Study Committee on Wednesday that the 2022 Olympics could be China's "way of showing that they are now the superpower of the world." This, Haley warned, could even endanger Taiwan.
"And if we don't boycott, if we don't do something to really call them out, mark my words: Taiwan is next," Haley said. "And if they take Taiwan, it's all over, because they will think that gives them free rein to grab any territory, not in the region, but anywhere they want to go."
The Biden administration has brushed off urgency in taking action. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has repeated we are consulting with allies and partners.
In April, Psaki and State Department Spokesperson Ned Price assured reporters that there was plenty of time to decide the issue.
But, as the letter from Sen. Cotton notes, "Under ordinary conditions, the U.S. government must prepare for years in advance of each Olympics to protect American athletes and guarantee U.S. media access."
During a recent hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stuck to that same non-answer when being questioned by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). "We're consulting very closely with allies and partners to look at the common concerns that we have, and ideally to establish a common approach," he said.
Sen. Merkley likened these upcoming Olympic Games to those hosted by the Nazis in Berlin in 1936, and warned about a similar "massive propaganda victory" that the games were Hitler, "which distracted from that brutal treatment" committed by the Nazis.
He urged Sec. Blinken to take action regardless. "I think even if our allies don't end up agreeing, I think the U.S. should take that stand," Sen. Merkley shared, citing bipartisan agreement from the committee.
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