Canada joins the Beijing Olympics boycott

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that Canada will join the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)Adrian Wilde/AFP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that Canada will join the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics over the human rights situation in China.

The Canadian announcement followed in the footsteps of the White House, the Australian government and the British government affirming a diplomatic boycott of the winter duels in February in protest of the Chinese government’s human rights abuses. China promised “strong countermeasures”.

Trudeau said his government has held consultations with allies in recent months.


“We are deeply concerned about the repeated human rights violations committed by the Chinese government,” Trudeau said.

“They should not be surprised that we will not send any kind of diplomatic representation,” he added.

Diplomatic measures taken by Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Australia will not affect the athletes’ participation in the Games.

Relations between Canada and China have deteriorated since China arrested two Canadians in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and the daughter of the company’s founder, following a US extradition request. Several countries described China’s response as a “hostage-taking strategy”, while China indicated that the accusations against Huawei and Meng were motivated by political interests to curb China’s economic and technological progress.

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