IOC member says diplomatic boycott of Olympics won't sway Beijing

OTTAWA — International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound says diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing winter games are unlikely to make much of an impact.

“That’s a way that governments can signal their disapproval of whatever the particular Chinese policies may be — whether it makes any difference to the Chinese is anybody's guess. I would say, basically, no,” Pound, a Canadian and former vice-president of the IOC, told POLITICO on Friday.

“Kind of by default, everyone's backing into a position that the athletes will go, the games will go on and the relationships with China will take their course.”

On Monday, the White House announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing games, citing China’s persecution of ethnic Uyghur Muslims and other human rights abuses.

“The athletes on Team USA have our full support,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily briefing. “We will be behind them 100 percent as we cheer them on from home. We will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.”

Other western democracies, including Canada, are considering diplomatic boycotts of the games, which are set to begin Feb. 4.

Pound wondered if it can truly be considered a boycott if the host country declines to welcome foreign dignitaries in the first place.

“Only governments invite government people to go to the games,” he said. “My guess is if China thought Canada was likely to have a boycott, it wouldn't invite anyone from Canada. And same with the U.S. — so it doesn't become a boycott.”

He added that the host could just say: How could you boycott something to which you were not invited?

“There are the games within games that go into any international relationships,” Pound said.

The backdrop: Countries have been under pressure to boycott the Beijing Olympics as a way to protest China’s human rights record. At the very least, leaders are being pressed to keep their dignitaries from attending the event.

Beijing has drawn international condemnation for its abuses of Uyghurs and other Muslims minorities in Xinjiang. The Biden administration and Canada’s Parliament have declared it a genocide.

Where Canada fits in: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Washington last month that his government has been in conversations for months with international partners about how to approach the Beijing Olympics.

Political rivals and lawmakers from Trudeau’s own Liberal Party have been calling for a boycott.

It’s unclear whether Trudeau intends to dispatch a political delegation to Beijing for the Olympics — but an announcement by Biden could open the door for Canada to follow.

“As the games approach, I’m sure there will be more information as to the exact posture Canada and, indeed, the world will take towards this issue,” Trudeau said after a trip during which he met with Biden.

But following Monday's White House announcement, Trudeau’s Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said Canada had yet to make a decision on whether to implement a diplomatic boycott, according to La Presse.

Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi told POLITICO earlier Monday that a diplomatic boycott is “definitely on the table” for Canada.

“I am hopeful that there will be one and I look forward to seeing that happen,” said Zuberi, who has been a vocal Canadian lawmaker against human rights abuses in China.

He said he believes a diplomatic boycott would hit home with the Chinese government and he doesn’t think it will make a difference if foreign officials receive invitations from Beijing or not.

“Still, it would be an exceptional situation because usually diplomats and dignitaries are there to celebrate the Olympics,” said Zuberi.

He added that he hopes the Canadian government is still considering a full boycott, but that any such move in that direction should be done alongside other countries.

Beijing’s response: A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry told reporters Monday in Beijing that the focus of the games should be on the accomplishments of the athletes.

“We have said on multiple occasions that the Beijing Winter Olympics is a grand gathering of global winter sports athletes and fans, rather than a platform for certain politicians’ political stunts,” spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press conference, according to a Chinese government transcript. “Politicians calling for [a] boycott are doing so for their own political interests and posturing. In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the Olympics to be successfully held by Beijing.”

Asked about the CNN report on Biden’s possible boycott announcement this week, Zhao said: “U.S. politicians keep hyping a ‘diplomatic boycott’ without even being invited to the games. This wishful thinking and pure grandstanding is aimed at political manipulation.”

Keeping athletes at home: Trudeau has shown no signs Canada would prevent athletes from traveling to Beijing.

“There are an awful lot of athletes in Canada and around the world who have been training and focused on this very, very much,” he said last month in D.C. “We’re looking for a way to both be able to see them show their capacities and fulfill all the hard work that they’ve done for many years, while continuing to demonstrate our real concerns with the way the Chinese government has behaved."

Liberal MP Adam Van Koeverden, an Olympic kayaking champion, told reporters in Ottawa last week that a country can still compete somewhere and care about the issues.

“I carried the flag for Canada at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 and we had this conversation about whether the spotlight being on China could be great for the Chinese at the time and I still believe that it is,” Van Koeverden said when asked about a possible boycott of athletes. “I don’t think that being an athlete, caring about our athletes or cheering for our athletes is mutually exclusive from believing and caring about the Uyghur genocide.”

Pound said he does not sense political will among governments for a concerted boycott of the Beijing games.

“They're all so conflicted in their many relationships with China that they're not able to get an act together,” Pound said. “There’s no enthusiasm at all for a cancellation of the games. Using the athletes as the cannon fodder in a useless gesture.”