By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Feb. 27: British MP and Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey called for a boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the House of Commons on Wednesday, stating that athletes “under no circumstances” should be “used as propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party” given its record of rights abuses. The Party leader since 2019 called Team GB, brand name for British Olympic Association, to boycott next year’s Olympics and support boycotting calls from numerous Tibetans and other rights groups under CCP rule.
MP Davey highlighted Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, which have been recently recognized by Canada and US as a genocide. “A genocide is happening in front of our eyes . . . Millions of Uyghur people are living in fear under a cruel regime,” he told the UK parliament. He urged the ministers and athletes from Team GB and Paralympics GB to boycott the 2022 Olympics if China fails to meet an agreement. British MPs including Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Dominic Raab and Chris Bryant also questioned whether Beijing should be allowed to host the Winter Olympics next February.
UK Secretary of State Dominic Raab argued that it was his “instinct to separate sport from diplomacy and politics [but there] comes a point where that might not be possible”. Sir Davey also remarked that if British athletes are sent to the games, they should “not be gagged from speaking out against the Chinese regime” despite International Olympics Committee (IOC) rules that prevent athletes from protesting at Olympic venues. Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics where it encountered strong opposition from human rights experts as the protestors rejected IOC’s claims that the international sporting event would improve China’s human rights record.
However, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected the calls for boycott, saying that the country did not “normally” support sporting boycotts. The British Olympic Association (BOA) said it “fully supported” the PM’s position. BOA’s spokesperson further responded, “We do not believe that boycotting the Olympic Winter Games is the right solution and feel that the athletes who have trained all their lives for this moment should be able to go and compete and represent their country.”
