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- President Joe Biden is expected to announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, CNN reported.
- The decision won’t be a full boycott, meaning US athletes are still expected to compete, per CNN.
- A diplomatic boycott allows the US to pressure China for human rights abuses.
President Joe Biden is expected to declare a “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, meaning that US government officials won’t attend the games, CNN reported, citing several unnamed sources.
The boycott doesn’t apply to US athletes, who are still expected to compete in the Winter Games, according to CNN.
But the move allows Biden’s administration to pressure China amid calls for the US to hold Beijing accountable for human rights abuses, such as its treatment of the Uyghur minority and the treatment of tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a high-ranking official of sexual assault.
Biden said on November 18 that the US was considering the diplomatic boycott, days after he met with President Xi Jinping virtually.
The US has not issued a diplomatic and athletic boycott of the Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Games. Back then, the US led the protest in answer to Russia’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
China has in the past warned the US against a boycott of the games, saying it would receive a “robust Chinese response,” Insider’s Cheryl Teh reported earlier this year.
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