US plans diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that US athletes will continue to compete and will 'have our full support”, but added “we will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games'

File Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The US will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest over Chinese human rights abuses, the White House has confirmed.

“US 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,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during Monday’s briefing.