[뉴욕=뉴스핌]Correspondent Kim Geun-cheol = US President Joe Biden announced on the 18th (local time) that he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled for February next year.
As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the White House on the same day, President Biden said, “We’re looking at it” when reporters asked if they would consider a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Baekakgona spokesman Jen Saki said at a briefing today that the diplomatic boycott review of the Beijing Winter Olympics was due to serious concerns about human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur region.
From the beginning of his inauguration, President Biden has pursued a policy of strong pressure and siege on China, while also raising the issue of human rights abuses. Even in Washington, there were many voices calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, citing China’s oppression and genocide against the Xinjiang Uighur.
A diplomatic boycott means that the delegation participates in the Games but does not send government delegations to Olympic-related events.
Recently, Josh Rogin, a columnist for foreign affairs and security at the Washington Post, predicted that the Biden government would respond to China’s human rights violations by declaring a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics. He predicted that it would be a good time to announce a diplomatic boycott, given that President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had their first summit meeting.
| US President Joe Biden answers reporters’ questions. 2021.11.19 [사진=로이터 뉴스핌] |
President Biden and President Xi held a summit meeting via video on the 15th for 3 hours and 30 minutes. Some media outlets raised speculation that Xi would invite President Biden to the Beijing Olympics at the US-China summit, but the White House suggested a negative stance, saying no such discussion had taken place between the leaders.
The prevailing view is that if President Biden announces a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics despite the summit meeting with President Xi, it will be difficult to expect a thaw in the strained US-China relations for the time being.
At the same time, the South Korean government’s plan to create momentum for improving inter-Korean and North Korea relations, such as the declaration of an end to the war, was disrupted by the participation in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Meanwhile, Moon Jeong-in, president of the Sejong Institute, appeared on a radio broadcast on the 18th and analyzed that if US President Joe Biden does not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, it will be difficult to promote an end to the war.
kckim100@newspim.com
