Canada is joining its closest allies in keeping its elected officials and diplomats home from Beijing in February.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that Canada will not send an official diplomatic delegation to the Winter Olympics. The country joins the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, and Lithuania in a diplomatic boycott, keeping elected officials home to call attention to host country China's human rights record.
"As many partners around the world, we are extremely concerned by the repeated human rights violations by the Chinese government," said Trudeau via The National Post.
Canada will still send athletes to compete in the Games, scheduled for February 4 through February 20 in and around Beijing. The Paralympics are set for March 4 to March 13. The Chinese capital is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees said in a joint statement Wednesday that they respect the government's decision to keep officials home.
"The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee remain concerned about the issues in China but understand the Games will create an important platform to draw attention to them," read the statement. "History has shown that athlete boycotts only hurt athletes without creating meaningful change. We also know the importance of Team Canada to Canadians, and we are committed to ensuring they can participate safely at the Games. Our athletes have a unique ability to inspire millions of Canadians of all ages, and billions around the world, while the Games foster increasingly important people-to-people connections."
The U.S. was the first country to announce it will not send elected officials to the Olympics. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said concerns over reported genocide in China have only increased.
"U.S. diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC's egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, and we simply can't do that," said Psaki, as reported by CNN.
The Chinese government has denied any human rights violations or genocide in Xinjiang and had hinted at retaliating against nations participating in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games.
