2022 Winter Olympics

Beijing’s dismissal of human rights violations marred the festivities and excitement around the 2022 winter Olympics. The human rights Watch has long accused the Chinese Communist Party of various human rights abuses. In recent years, there have been numerous leaked videos showing members of the Uyghur community being forced into detention camps. In addition to the persecution of individuals based on their religion and culture, the Chinese government has also been accused of mass surveillance and forced disappearances, attributes that amount to human rights violations. As the 2022 winter Olympics neared, the Chinese government vehemently dismissed these accusations and video evidence as manufactured lies. The Chinese government’s insistence that Taiwan is part of China and that foreign governments needed to desist from interfering with its internal affairs also aggravated the tensions around the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

While issues of China’s human rights abuses are of great concern, I believe that boycotting the Beijing 2022 winter Olympics would not be an effective means of holding the Chinese government accountable. Throughout history, boycotting the Olympics has had little to no effect on promoting positive change. The US government’s stance to implement a diplomatic boycott went largely unnoticed due to China’s Covid-19 strict rules that barred many people from attending the event as they did not meet China’s health requirements. Furthermore, despite maintaining a low international profile, the winter Olympic sponsors advertised and carried out their businesses, thus defeating the purpose of raising human rights awareness through boycotts.

To effect real change, governments and human rights organizations need to use more stringent approaches in dealing with the human rights abuses in China. For instance, governments worldwide could impose economic sanctions against the Chinese government. Compared to ineffective Olympic boycotts, economic sanctions could be more effective in forcing the Chinese government to address human rights abuses.