US political boycott: China denies Olympic intervention

China has accused the United States of interfering in preparations for the Winter Olympics. Foreign Minister Wang has asked his US counterpart Blingen to refrain from making statements critical of China.

Considering the diplomatic tensions between the two superpowers, the foreign ministers of the United States and China often do not talk to each other on the phone. The conversation between Wang Yi and Anthony Blingen was not harmonious.

China’s Secretary of State has accused the U.S. Secretary of State of wanting to disrupt the Winter Olympics. He called on Blingen not to get involved in preparations for the Olympics. The games start next week in the Chinese capital Beijing.

Criticism of human rights violations

The background to China’s allegations is the US criticism of China’s human rights abuses. The U.S. government has also announced that it will boycott the Winter Games politically. So no American politician will travel to the Games.

Some states are ignoring the games

Many international human rights organizations have called for a political boycott of the Olympics. Other countries include, for example, Great Britain, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Australia and Denmark. Germany will not send any top politicians to Beijing, although the federal government has not spoken openly about the diplomatic boycott.

The foreign ministers of China and the United States also spoke on the phone about the crisis in Ukraine. According to Chinese state media, Wang spoke about Russia’s “legitimate security interests” in this context.