The U.S. is set to stage a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over human rights atrocities against Uyghur Muslims regarding genocide in Xinjiang.

China has vowed “firm countermeasures” in response to the U.S boycott.

"The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games given the PRC's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a press conference.

Psaki added the administration will continue to “advance human rights in China and beyond.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called the boycott of the Olympics “a necessary step to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to human rights in the face of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses.”

Biden is set to host a White House Summit for Democracy, a virtual gathering of world leaders from over 100 countries on either Thursday or Friday. Administration officials said Biden intends to use the meeting “to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad,” the Associated Press reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused U.S. leaders of grandstanding and called the boycott an “outright political provocation” but gave no details on how China plans to retaliate.

The Biden administration’s decision to boycott the Olympics recalls how former President Jimmy Carter had the U.S. boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in response to the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan, which was supported by 60 other countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only foreign leader who has committed to attending the games in February.

RELATED STORIES
Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 U.S. China Winter olympics