Justin Trudeau announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
OTTAWA-Canada will stage a diplomatic boycott" of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, a move that mirrors action taken by the United States, United Kingdom and Australia that allows the country to participate in the Winter Games while attempting to denounce China's authoritarian government for its human rights abuses.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision at a press conference on Parliament Hill Wednesday. Speaking alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge, Trudeau said he is extremely concerned" by China's human rights violations and that the decision shouldn't surprise China.
We have been very clear over the past many years of our deep concerns around human rights violations," Trudeau said.
He also made it clear that Canadian athletes will still compete in the Games, stating that our athletes have been training for years ... and they will continue to have all of our fullest support."
Earlier Wednesday, on his way to the Liberals' morning caucus meeting, Trudeau said the federal government has been mulling how to approach these Olympics for months. That includes conversations with several allies, Trudeau said, including at the Group of 7 summit that the U.K. hosted in Cornwall in June.
We know that on issues like this it is important to make sure that we are working with our allies," Trudeau said.
The U.S. was the first country to announce it would not send officials to the Beijing Games. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time that they decision was meant to protest China's oppression of Uyghur Muslims in the region of Xinjiang, which the U.S. as well as Canada's House of Commons have declared a genocide."
On Tuesday, the new American ambassador in Ottawa, David Cohen, told reporters the U.S. expects Canada to be aligned" with the Biden administration's diplomatic boycott.
In recent days, the federal government had made it clear that it would respect the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees' desire to send athletes to participate in the Beijing Games. In a statement to the Star this week, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker argued a full team boycott" would only hurt athletes and not create any meaningful change."
He said that, by attending the Games, we can continue to shine a light on the issues while creating opportunities to inspire Canadians and build people-to-people connections."
The Opposition Conservatives and New Democrats have also called for nothing more than a diplomatic boycott of the Games, while the Bloc Quebecois has said such a move is the least Canada could do. Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said last week that the importance of the Games pales in comparison to the genocide" China is allegedly perpetrating against Uyghur Muslims.
China, meanwhile, declared Monday that it would respond to diplomatic boycotts with firm countermeasures." But so far, the regime in Beijing has not outlined what those might be.
With files from The Associated Press
Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga