Tibetanere i eksil i India protesterer mot Beijing-OL i Dharmsala den 3. februar 2021. De fem olympiske ringene symboliserer Taiwan, Tibet, Honkong, Indre Mongolia og Xinjiang. Foto: Ashwini Bhatia / AP / NTB.

USA vil ta opp muligheten for en boikott av vinter-OL i Beijing i 2022 i en koordinert tilnærming til spørsmålet med landets allierte, sa talsmann for det amerikanske utenriksdepartementet, Ned Price, under en pressekonferanse i Washington tirsdag.

Price uttrykte nok en gang USAs bekymring for Kinas menneskerettsbrudd mot uigurene, melder Reuters. Signalet i selve boikottspørsmålet er imidlertid vagt:

Asked if the United States was discussing with allies whether or not to consider a potential joint boycott, Price said, “It is something that we certainly wish to discuss … it is certainly something that we understand that a coordinated approach will be not only in our interests, but also in the interests of our allies and partners.”

Later, Price clarified in an email that he was referring to the United States having a coordinated approach rather than saying the United States was specifically discussing a joint boycott. In a tweet afterwards, he wrote that there was nothing new to announce.

USA har tidligere kunngjort at de også ville drøfte saken med OL-komiteen:

In late February, the White House said it had not made a final decision on whether the United States would take part in the 2022 Winter Olympics in China and would look for guidance from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had no comment.

Biden-administrasjonen har tidligere antydet at Beijing-OL kan bli boikottet diplomatisk, men at de amerikanske utøverne fremdeles ville stå fritt til å delta.

Forrige gang USA boikottet OL var under den kalde krigen i 1980, da sommerlekene fant sted i Moskva.

Kina har tidligere varslet «alvorlige» sanksjoner mot land som måtte boikotte Beijing-OL.

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