(CNN) The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that no US government officials will attend the 2022 Beijing Olympics, implementing a diplomatic boycott of the games, according to several sources.
The move would allow the US to send a message on the world stage to China without preventing US athletes from competing. The National Security Council, which has been privately discussing the boycott, declined to comment.
President Joe Biden told reporters last month that he was weighing a diplomatic boycott as Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, advocated for one in protest of China's human rights abuses.
A full boycott is not expected, meaning US athletes will still be allowed to compete. The last time the US fully boycotted the Olympics was in 1980 when former President Jimmy Carter was in office.
In response to the news, Beijing warned it would take "resolute countermeasures" against the Biden administration if the diplomatic boycott went ahead.
zeptepitime on December 6th, 2021 at 06:00 UTC »
I think I’ve seen this headline like 10 times this year
IcyLychees on December 6th, 2021 at 02:01 UTC »
Is it really a "boycott" if the diplomats taking part were never invited to attend the Olympics in the first place, especially during this pandemic? All this achieves is political posturing without having to actually do anything productive on the part of the politicians.
shahooster on December 6th, 2021 at 02:01 UTC »
Tl;dr: US athletes will still compete