China has threatened sanctions against Britain and any other country boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over the alleged ‘genocide’ of Uighur Muslims.
British MPs, including Liberal leader Ed Davey, have called for a boycott of Team GB over Beijing’s alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ against Uighurs detained in Xinjiang and subjected to political ‘retraining’.
But Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times, warned on Sunday that “China will severely punish any country that follows such a call.”
“Boycotting the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, an unpopular idea, will not receive widespread support,” he said.
Mr. Davey hit back today, saying “we cannot be bullied by the Chinese government”. He adds that ‘we have to use every lever’.
One year to go: the Olympic rings are lit up last Friday at the Olympic Tower in Beijing, a year before the 2022 winter spectacle would begin.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, pictured, today slammed the sanctions threat, saying “we cannot be bullied by the Chinese government”
The Lib Dems said at the weekend that British athletes should not ‘be part of a propaganda exercise’ for Communist China in 2022.
Mr Davey likens the upcoming Games to a notorious 1930s photo in which the English football team made Nazi salutes before a friendly match in Berlin.
“No one can be proud of past failures, that’s why we need to act today,” he said.
Responding to the threat of sanctions today, he said: ‘What we are hearing from China is simple and bullying and we cannot be bullied by the Chinese government while committing ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“Nobody wants sanctions, but we can not allow our athletes and businesses and our country to be bullied by a government that commits genocide.”
He added: ‘We must ask ourselves, can we look future generations in the eye and say that we have done everything in our power against a mass crime against humanity?
“We have made very reasonable requests. The whole world community makes reasonable requests and the Chinese government should not hide from them.
‘If they have nothing to hide, they should allow independent UN monitors to verify or not verify these claims. We have seen reporting by international media, human rights organizations and the BBC showing the evidence. The Chinese authorities must be held accountable. ‘
Labor MP Chris Bryant also called for a boycott and told the Guardian: “I just can not see why anyone wants to go to the Winter Olympics in Beijing”.
“I think it’s just extraordinary that the British government seems to have no backbone about it,” he said.
“I think the British Olympic Association should appeal to the Winter Olympics, and if it does not move, we should boycott it.”
A watchtower at a high-security facility in Xinjiang where a million people are thought to have been detained at re-education facilities compared to Nazi concentration camps
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab did not rule out a boycott of the 2022 Games when he was questioned by a parliamentary committee last year.
“In general, my instinct is to separate sport from diplomacy and politics, but there comes a point where that may not be possible,” he told lawmakers.
“I would say, let’s gather the evidence, let’s work with our international partners, let’s look around at what further steps we need to take.”
Human rights groups have expressed concern about the event in 2022 since it was awarded to Beijing in 2015 – seven years after the city hosted the Summer Games.
Since then, the West’s relations with China have deteriorated over a long list of issues, including the Uighur, but also the coronavirus pandemic and Hong Kong.
But the US is not currently planning to boycott the Games, and America’s Olympic and Paralympic Committee has said it opposes such a move.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that “we are not currently talking about changing our attitude or our plans in connection with the Beijing Olympics”.
The US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, with many US allies joining the rally.
This forced the USSR and most of its allies in the Eastern Bloc to fall back when the Games were held in Los Angeles four years later.
But Britain stayed out of the geopolitical battle by taking part in both events and also rejected calls for a 2008 boycott of the Beijing Olympics.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) of the Trump era used his last hours in office to officially describe China’s treatment of the Uighurs as ‘genocide’.
The British government says there is ‘growing’ evidence of ‘gross human rights violations’ in Xinjiang, including forced labor and illegal detention.
It is believed that China has captured more than a million people in a large network of detention centers compared to Nazi concentration camps.
Human rights groups say Uighurs are being subjected to forced sterilization and political brainwashing in the camps.
Donald Trump’s government last month officially described China’s treatment of the Uighurs as ‘genocide’.
“We are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party state,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Joe Biden’s administration said it would review the verdict on ‘genocide’ on procedural grounds, but did not question the content of the allegations.
China rejects the allegations and denies the existence of ‘re-education camps’, claiming that Uighurs live in ‘peace and contentment, unity and harmony’.
Beijing also claims that the Uighur population has grown in recent decades and uses this as if it proves that the ‘genocide’ claims cannot be true.