Reuters
Published Apr 07, 2021 01:21PM ET
Updated Apr 07, 2021 02:55PM ET
By Steve Keating
(Reuters) -Susanne Lyons, chair of the United States Olympic Paralympic Committee (USOPC), said on Wednesday athletes can expect a lot more talk about a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics but again argued there were more effective ways of dealing with China's alleged human rights abuses.
During the opening session of a three-day virtual media summit to highlight U.S. plans ahead of this summer's Tokyo Olympics, Lyons focused on China's Winter Games, addressing comments by the State Department that there are ongoing discussions on how to proceed with participation in them.
"I think we will continue to see a lot of discussion on the topic of boycotts and I want to just point out again what we have said very consistently," Lyons said.
"We at the USOPC oppose athlete boycotts because they have shown to negatively impact athletes while not effectively addressing global issues in the past."
In a briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price repeated Washington's concerns over Beijing's human rights violations, particularly its persecution of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, which the United States deems a genocide.
Asked if the United States was discussing with allies whether or not to consider a potential joint boycott, Price said; "It is something that we certainly wish to discuss".
Price later clarified in an email that he was referring to the United States having a coordinated approach rather than saying it was specifically discussing a joint boycott.
"Since yesterday the State Department has clarified their position they've denied that they were saying that a boycott was moving ahead and said that the Biden administration is more generally in talks with allies over China's human rights violations," Lyons said.
"We certainly don't want to in any way minimize the serious human rights issues that are happening in China but the U.S. has many tools to constructively respond to these concerns.
"We do not believe that Team USA's athletes should be used as political pawns in these issues."
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration signalled earlier this year that it had no plans to bar American athletes from participating in the Beijing Games.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday underscored that position, saying the U.S. is not discussing a joint boycott of the Beijing Olympics due to alleged human rights abuses.
"Our position on the 2022 Olympics has not changed. We have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners," Psaki said.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.