By Dias Omirov
The upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing that is planned to take place in next year is about to face boycott from major countries over human rights abuse cases. However, the Chinese government have confronted those allegations by pleading not guilty to any of those accusations and by proclaiming that the West is planning to stand in the way of China with means of “politicizing” sports. China already has a history of dealing with these kinds of allegations on the ground of human rights violations. In 2008, China hosted the Summer Olympics in Beijing which received a backlash from the West over the poor human rights protection score in regions like Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However, the 2008 case of counteraction against these abuses was not thoroughly proceeded, and China was able to proceed with the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, Beijing may face some serious challenges in hosting the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics when both the US and the European Union [EU] leaders are devising a new strategy of how to deal with China.
So far, the European Parliament [EP] has adopted some important decisions to counteract against China. They called upon Member States’ diplomats to decline any invitations to attend the games. Taking all things into consideration, the EP is mostly exerting this policy to bring the attention of diplomats worldwide to the numerous cases of human rights abuses in China. The talks over a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics are likely to peak in January of the next year. Many specialists like the Sports policy expert Jürgen Mittag had suggested that the absence of the European diplomats would be a major blow to the Olympic Games. The aforementioned measures taken by the EP could cause significant damage on China’s diplomatic image throughout the world.
In the context of the EU-China relations, actions like imposing a diplomatic boycott is a crucial but a risky decision for their economic relationship. Simply, not sending diplomats to the Olympics Games seems like a small and an innocent act but the consequences for both parties could be larger. There are numerous drawbacks for the EU for imposing a political boycott on China, such as the possible weakening of their economic and overall diplomatic relationships. After the execution of the boycott, experts have declared that this resolution adopted the EP in July, could have a negative effect on EU foreign policy. The official Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has recently responded to the EP’s decision in calling it “absurd” as he mentioned that the EU and the West should stop politicizing sport.
The 2022 Winter Olympics has become the main subject of the escalating relations between the EU and China. There are several factors that can illustrate the reason behind why the EU decided to hold a boycott of the 2022 Olympics Games. China has already been interfering in the political matters in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy organizations are being dismantled and the media and political freedoms are being undermined by the rising Chinese influence.
The trust between the EU and China has been considerably damaged. The European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has stated that the EU-China economic relations are in tight spot as a result of the sanctions adopted in response to the human rights abuses committed on the Uyghurs. A recently proposed massive investment plan between the EU and China is currently suspended due to both sides refusing to lift the sanctions. China is imposing counter sanctions on the EU. Beijing claims that no other country or union should intervene in other’s countries domestic policy which in my opinion raises more suspicions about the whole situation. Despite the situation with the Hong Kong – Mainland China relations, China’s relationship with most of the European countries has been fading. Recently, relations between China and Lithuania had become poor and the Lithuanian officials are urging the EU and other democratic countries to join their forces to oppose China’s plans for the Olympics. The main reason behind the Chinese frustration is the formation of the de facto embassy of the Taiwan (Republic of China) in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius. Taiwan is not recognized as a country by China and the mere mention of its existence is seen as a major offense by the country’s authorities. The government of Lithuania had declared that they might join the US, some EU member states and Australia by refusing to send their diplomats the official Winter Olympics ceremonies.
The idea of a EU’s diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic games is gaining ground and acceptance among its member states. Such measures demonstrated their effectiveness in the past. During the 2012 European Football Championship held by Poland and Ukraine, EU officials declined the invitation to attend the matches held in Ukraine in protest against the unlawful detainment of the opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. In any case, in contrast with Ukraine, China is a much larger economic power. Brussels ought to be cautious in moving toward China before the decide anything else as this may trigger a reaction that may have a deep impact on the EU.
In any case, the EU can’t just disregard the situation in China. While the Chinese reputation on human rights abuse in worsening across the globe, the EU should not miss the opportunity to act. Even if little nothing changed since the 2008 Bejing Olympic games, the EU should not remain silent on the human rights abuses committed in China and should consider boycotting the Winter Games diplomatically.