News and Views on Tibet

India announces diplomatic boycott, calls China’s move to politicize Olympic “regrettable”

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The choice of Col. Qi Fabao, seen here in a photograph from Chinese state media, as a torchbearer has fueled tension between India and China.(Photo/China News Service)

By Tenzin Lekhden

DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 3: India effectively announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics following China’s domestic torch relay ceremony, which featured and highlighted a Galwan PLA soldier as one of the torchbearers. India called the move “regrettable” that China chose to politicize the Olympics.

India previously chose not to diplomatically boycott the sporting event after a joint meeting with Russia and China despite the border clash in Galwan against the Chinese PLA which resulted in the loss of 20 Indian soldiers and clashes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh. 

But following the torch relay, India’s Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi announced a diplomatic boycott of the games. He said, “It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics.” He announced the diplomatic boycott, saying, “I wish to inform that the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.”

China has previously accused the USA, Canada, UK, and other countries of politicizing the sporting event, following their announcements of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics citing China’s crackdown against freedom, democracy, and human rights in Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Activists from Students for a Free Tibet staged a symbolic protest at McLoed Ganj square on Thursday (Phayul photo/Kunsang Gashon)

Activists and NGOs have called for the boycott of the “Genocide Games” since last year and are set to launch a multitude of simultaneous protests across the world on the Global Day of Action. Students for a Free Tibet – India, kicked off the GDA by staging a symbolic demonstration in protest against the “Genocide Games” and agents participating in it. 

The theatrical demonstration had three athletes, blindfolded and gagged, on a podium that is covered with the names of multinational companies sponsoring the “Genocide Games”; three prisoners stay locked on the side. Rinzin Choedon, SFT-India’s National Director, said the symbolic demonstration is a protest against the gross human rights violations against Uyghurs, Tibetans, ethnic groups, and religious believers from all independents. 

Tenzin Lekdhen, SFT-India’s Campaigns Coordinator, speaking with Phayul said,” the athletes, gagged and blindfolded, and the names of the capital-hungry corporates sponsoring the event on the podium, represent their complacency in spite of multiple reports and evidence of human rights abuses in China’s colonized regions.” 

“We cannot trust China. Just hours ago, they hypocritically politicized the events despite accusing other countries of the very act, leading to India’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics. This is who China really is, a hypocrite,” he added. 

Doordarshan, more commonly known by its abbreviation ‘DD’, India’s state media, announced that it will not broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies on its channel, following China’s conscious decision to honor Qi Fabao, a PLA commander involved in the Galwan incident, by making him one of the torchbearers.

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