Fri 10 December 2021:
France has declined to join the diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, calling such a step “insignificant.”
French President Emanuel Macron stated that the boycott, led by the United States and other Western nations, is merely a “symbolic step” that will have no significant impact.
Apart from the United States, only three countries—Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada—have openly declared their diplomatic boycott, stating that they will not send government representatives to the 2022 Winter Olympics to protest China’s human rights record.
These countries stated that they will only send athletes to the competition.
The boycott was partly in response to Hong Kong’s crackdown on political liberties and concerns over Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has been missing for weeks after accusing a prominent government official of sexual assault.
“To be clear: You either have a complete boycott, and not send athletes, or you try to change things with useful actions,” AFP quoted Macron as saying at a news conference on Thursday.
He, however, added that he was “in favour of action that has a useful outcome”.
Questioning the utility of the diplomatic boycott, Macron noted that he “didn’t hear anybody in the world say: Let’s not send our athletes. So, we’re talking about something rather symbolic,” he said.
France would instead work with the International Olympic Committee on a charter guaranteeing the protection of athletes “given what has happened over recent weeks”, Macron said in an apparent reference to tennis player Peng Shuai.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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