China protests against politicizing sports
US President Joe Biden (pictured) announced on the 18th (local time) that he is considering diplomatically boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics to be held in February next year. The boycott of the Olympics was directly mentioned three days after the video summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). As a result, the possibility of a declaration of an end to the Korean War, which the Moon Jae-in administration has been pursuing with the Beijing Olympics as an opportunity, has become unclear.
During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on the same day, President Biden said that it was “a matter under consideration” when asked by reporters about the US “diplomatic boycott.” The diplomatic boycott of the Olympics means that the athletes are dispatched, but not official delegations made up of high-level government officials or politicians to the opening and closing ceremonies.
White House press secretary Jen Saki said at a briefing on the same day that he was “seriously concerned” about human rights violations in Xinjiang. Apart from President Biden’s emphasis on avoiding head-on clashes between the two countries at the US-China summit, he made clear his intention to continue diplomatic pressure on China’s human rights issues. US politicians and human rights groups have been calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics by holding the Chinese authorities accountable for the human rights abuses of the Xinjiang Uyghurs.
There are speculations that the conflict between the US and China could intensify again over the question of participating in the Beijing Olympics. Some predict that if President Biden decides on a diplomatic boycott, China will strongly oppose it as major allies such as the European Union (EU) and the UK will not participate in the Olympics. On the 19th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said in response to President Biden’s remarks about a diplomatic boycott, “The Xinjiang issue is purely China’s internal affairs and we do not tolerate any outside forces’ interference.” “Politizing sports is the spirit of the Olympics. It is against the law,” he said.
Wen government’s declaration of end of war at Beijing Olympics unclear
US to boycott Beijing Olympics
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 18th (local time) that “the United States has been discussing a joint decision to reduce the possibility of China retaliated against certain countries,” citing an unnamed diplomatic source. did. This means that the Joe Biden administration is already considering a common front with its allies, taking China’s retaliation into account.
As the boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics became visible, the Moon Jae-in administration’s plan to declare an end to the war at the end of his term became inevitable. The government has accelerated discussions with the United States on the text of an end-of-war declaration, keeping in mind the possibility that the two Koreas, the United States, and China will gather at the Beijing Olympics before the expiration of President Moon’s term. This is because North Korea’s participation in the Beijing Olympics would be the last chance to adopt a declaration of an end to the war through the inter-Korean summit and the US-China summit. However, as North Korea has yet to show a clear reaction, the possibility of a diplomatic boycott from the US appears, and the power of the idea of an end-of-war declaration is inevitably reduced.
It is unclear whether a high-ranking North Korean official will attend the Beijing Olympics. As North Korea is currently suspended from qualification by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it cannot participate in the Olympic Games at the national level and can only compete as an individual athlete. The IOC suspended the qualifications of the North Korean Olympic Committee until the end of next year on the grounds that North Korea did not participate in the Tokyo Olympics in July. However, diplomatic authorities are planning to continue pushing for an end to the war even if the US diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics becomes a reality. A government official said, “There is no reason to nail the Beijing Olympics as an opportunity to declare the end of the war. Even before that, if the conditions are ready, we will proceed quickly.”
New York = Correspondent Yoo Jae-dong jarrett@donga.com
By Choi Ji-seon, staff reporter aurinko@donga.com
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