Australia on Wednesday joined the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.
The move prompted a sharp response from China with the Chinese Embassy in Australia saying, “Mountains can not stop the river from flowing into the sea.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the United States has said that its government officials will boycott February’s Beijing Olympics because of China’s human rights “atrocities”, just weeks after talks aimed at easing tense relations between the world’s two largest economies.
China said the United States would “pay the price” for its decision and warned of countermeasures in response, but gave no details.
Australian PM Scott Morrison said Wednesday’s decision came
Australian PM Scott Morrison said Wednesday’s decision came because of Australia’s struggles to re-open diplomatic channels with China to discuss alleged human rights abuses in the far western region of Xinjiang and Beijing’s moves against Australian imports.
Announcing the plans, Morrison said Beijing had not responded to several issues raised by Canberra, including the rights abuse accusations.
“So it is not surprising therefore that Australian government officials would not be going to China for those Games,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
“According to Olympic rules, dignitaries are invited by their respective National Olympic Committee (NOC) to attend the Olympic Games,” the embassy statement said.
“It is up to the NOC to decide whether to extend invitations or not. Mountains can not stop the river from flowing into the sea.
Australia’s success at the Beijing Winter Olympics depends on the performance of Australian athletes, not on the attendance of Australian officials, and the political posturing by some Australian politicians.”