Mark Schiefelbein / AP
On Friday, a policeman wearing a face mask and protective goggles against COVID-19 stands near a poster of a skier on the wall of a station in Zhangjiakou, north China’s Hebei Province. China is threatening to take “firm countermeasures” if the United States carries out the promised diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
The government will not send ministers to the China Winter Olympics, but New Zealand diplomats could attend as the United States announces a “diplomatic ban” on the games.
Sports Minister Grant Robertson said on Tuesday that the government decided in October that it would not send any government ministers to the Winter Olympics, and China had been informed.
He said the move was due to “a series of factors but mostly related to Covid and the fact that the logistics of travel and so on around Covid are not conducive to this kind of travel.”
The United States announced Tuesday morning that it will hold a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics to protest China’s persecution of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province. Australia was considering a similar move, according to several reports.
“We have made our concerns about human rights issues clear to China on numerous occasions, as recently as the [China’s] President Xi. So they are well aware of our perspective on human rights, ”said Robertson, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, on Tuesday.
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“We’re not already attending at the diplomatic level so to speak… Normally, the new Olympic Committee will get some support on the ground from the people, a lot of logistical support. From what I understand, it is probable, but beyond that, no.
Robertson has said he will not call New Zealand’s position on the games a “diplomatic boycott.”
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it remains undecided whether its China-based diplomats, including Ambassador Clare Fearnley, will attend the games’ events.
“The New Zealand Olympic Committee has requested accreditation of a small number of Embassy staff, including the Ambassador, to provide consular support to the team, when needed, such as is standard practice for this kind of event, ”a spokesperson said in a written statement.
“No decision has been made on participation beyond that.”
New Zealand was among many countries to sign the United Nations ‘Olympic Truce’ for the 2022 Winter Games last week, while a group of 20 countries, including the United States, Kingdom, Australia and Canada, refused to sign the resolution.
On Tuesday, two multi-party MPs, Simon O’Connor of National and Louisa Wall of Labor, wrote directly to Robertson, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, asking them to publicly confirm that they did not would not attend the games.
O’Connor and Wall are co-chairs of the New Zealand branch of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and a gathering of MPs from various parliaments concerned with China’s actions.
A decision not to send the government minister to the games was an “appropriate response,” O’Connor said, and it was important that athletes received consular support.
“That’s when you’re at diplomatic receptions, opening and closing ceremonies… Certainly the IPAC position is, no, there should be a full diplomatic boycott.
“Standing up for human rights is important, and sending a signal about what happened in Hong Kong and with the Uyghurs is wrong.
Wang Genhua, China’s deputy chief of mission and current charge d’affaires, said in an interview last week that Ardern had promised Chinese President Xi Jinping that New Zealand athletes would attend the games, during a recent “very good” phone call.
