The Biden administration said on Monday that U.S. diplomats would travel to Beijing to support athletes at the Winter Olympics, but not to attend the Games, after a top Chinese government propagandist claimed the move showed the President Biden’s diplomatic boycott was a “farce”.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had received at least 18 U.S. requests for diplomatic visas. The South China Morning Post reported that 40 more could arrive before the opening ceremonies on Feb.4.
The State Department and the White House National Security Council said Monday evening that there had been no change in Biden’s “diplomatic boycott”.
“We intend to provide consular and diplomatic security services to ensure that our athletes, coaches, coaches, and staff are safe and have access to the US citizen services we provide to all US citizens overseas.” , said a statement from the two agencies.
“Any visa application would be intended for consular and diplomatic security personnel. It is normal for these personnel to be in the field, and these personnel do not constitute official or diplomatic representation at the Games. “
The joint statement continued: “Our position that we announced earlier this month remains our position and will not change: we will have no diplomatic or official representation given the [People’s Republic of China’s] the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, as well as other human rights violations. Any suggestion to the contrary is false.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who is infamous for spread false information About the COVID-19 pandemic starting in the United States rather than Wuhan, said diplomatic visas showed the boycott of Biden was a “farce.”
“The US side recently staged a farce for the purpose of political manipulation and claimed it would not send any diplomatic or official representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics, even though it was never actually invited.” , Zhao said.
He added: “We call again on the American side to practice the Olympic spirit, to stop politicizing the sport and to stop making any other comments or actions that could interfere or disrupt the Beijing Winter Olympics. “
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the diplomatic boycott earlier this month, specifically citing the mass detention of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs in western China.
The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games given the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, as well as other human rights violations “said Psaki.
Former President Donald Trump said in a recent interview that he agreed with Biden’s decision not to ban athletes from competing in the Games – as President Jimmy Carter did ahead of the Olympic Games in Moscow summer of 1980 after the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.
Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, “I watched Jimmy Carter do it, and it was terrible. [It] hurts athletes. There are much more powerful things we can do – much, much more powerful things. “
So far, Biden has kept many of Trump’s policies toward China in place, including tariffs on Chinese goods and sanctions against Chinese Communist officials for eliminating Hong Kong autonomy and mistreating Uyghurs.
But Biden appeared to apply a soft touch on other sensitive issues for the Chinese government. For example, he did not pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to be transparent about the origins of COVID-19 during a 3.5-hour virtual summit last month.
Biden then smiled and walked away after listening to a question from The Post about why he hasn’t done more to push China to be transparent about the origins of the pandemic after 800,000 deaths in the United States .
The U.S. intelligence community said in August that it was possible that the virus had leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, calling the theory one of two “plausible” explanations, in addition to a natural transfer of the virus. animals to humans.
Trump told Bartiromo that Biden did not press China on the origins of the coronavirus because he “was afraid” of Xi because of his son Hunter Biden’s business interests in China.
“So, do they have something on him?” Bartiromo asked.
“Yeah. Of course they do,” said Trump, who teases a 2024 presidential rematch against Biden.
A 2017 email retrieved from Hunter Biden’s laptop described a 10% layaway for “the big guy” in a possible deal involving a Chinese energy company. Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski has said Joe Biden is the “big guy.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, said last month – less than a week after his father’s summit with Xi – that the first son had divested a 10% stake in another Chinese company called BHR Partners, an investment fund controlled by Chinese public entities.
BHR Partners was registered 12 days after Hunter joined then-vice president Biden aboard Air Force Two for a 2013 trip to Beijing. The entity played an important role in facilitating a 2016 deal in which a Chinese company bought a Congolese cobalt mine from US and Canadian companies. Cobalt is a key material for electric car batteries.
The lawyer for the first son did not provide any information about the transfer, including the identity of the person or entity that acquired his stake, the date of the transaction and the dollar amount. Psaki recently said the White House would not provide details of the transaction and referred The Post to Hunter’s attorney, who did not respond to requests for information.
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