“Faster, higher, stronger…together” is the motto and driving force behind every Olympian and every country they represent. The Olympics has always been an event that allows countries to send their best athletes to compete on the world stage. For the host country, it is a source of international prestige and honor. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, more than three billion people tuned in to watch the games. More than 200 countries sent their preeminent athletes to compete for gold medals. This year, the United States should have boycotted the Olympics.
Boycotting the Olympics has previously signified times of great tension and conflict between host and visiting countries. In 1980, the United States boycotted and did not send athletes to the Olympics held in Moscow due to tensions during the Cold War. Four years later, several countries boycotted the 1984 Olympics, which were held in the United States, for similar reasons. This year, the 2022 Olympics are being held in Beijing, China. In the months leading up to the event, many have raised the question: Should the United States send its athletes to compete in Beijing?
Recently, China has been under fire from many countries, including the United States, for civil rights violations and causing geopolitical strife. It has been reported that China has an estimated 1.8 million religious and ethnic minorities–the majority of which are Uyghur Muslims–in concentration camps, or, as they call them, “vocational education and training centers.” This is considered to be the largest arbitrary detention of minorities since World War II. Although China consistently denies allegations of human rights violations, many in the international intelligence community back up these claims with satellite footage and thousands of reports of individuals and families disappearing with no trace.
As if concentration camps were not enough, tensions between Taiwan and China have escalated exponentially over the last several weeks. This past week, the U.S. sent two carrier strike groups to the South China Sea in response to China penetrating the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone. On January 27, the U.S. ambassador to China warned Taiwan if they attempted to claim independence over China, it would pull the U.S. into the conflict as a Taiwanese ally.
Given this, why are we not boycotting the Beijing Olympics this year? In December, the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 games, yet we are still sending our athletes to compete. No impact is made with just a verbal censure. Instead, the US should withdraw from the Olympics before they begin on February 4, and call for other countries to follow suit. How can the United States, let alone the world, come “together” under these circumstances?