Beijing Winter Olympics Face Diplomatic Boycott, Geopolitical Controversy Overshadows Sporting Event

From February 4 to 20, 2022, Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics, becoming the first "Dual Olympic City." The Games, organized by the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), proceeded smoothly despite diplomatic boycotts from several nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

Leading up to the Games, multiple Western nations, spearheaded by the United States, announced a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Winter Olympics. This meant countries would not send high-level government officials or diplomatic delegations, while allowing their athletes to compete. The boycott was primarily triggered by China’s human rights record in regions like Xinjiang and Hong Kong. China strongly condemned the action as "political manipulation" and argued that sports should not be politicized. Nonetheless, figures like Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony.

The diplomatic boycott deeply intertwined the human rights agenda with a major global sporting event, signaling a more unified and hardened stance by Western nations on values-based diplomacy. From a conservative perspective, the boycott reinforced criticisms of China’s governance model and further highlighted the emerging bloc division within the U.S.-China-Russia triangular relationship. It confirmed that global public events can no longer escape the influence of geopolitical competition, widening the deep ideological and institutional rift in the international community.