Athletes would still be allowed to partake come February.
The Biden administration is expected to announce a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics later this week in response to China’s human rights record — a move that would bar U.S. officials from attending, sending a symbolic message while still allowing American athletes to compete. A diplomatic boycott has bipartisan support, including from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some Republicans who initially advocated for a complete boycott. The last full boycott by the U.S. was in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter withdrew from the Summer Games in Moscow over the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan. High-level diplomatic delegations typically attend the Olympics, including when President George W. Bush visited Beijing for the 2008 Summer Games. Zhao described the potential boycott by the White House as “a stain on the spirit of the Olympic charter” and said the U.
