World

US diplomatic boycott violates Olympic spirit: China

China accused the United States of violating the Olympic spirit on Tuesday after the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games over human rights concerns.

Rights groups have pushed for a full-blown boycott of the Games, accusing China of rights abuses against ethnic minorities. The US decision falls short of those calls but comes at an exceptionally turbulent time for relations between the powerhouse nations and was met with a barrage of criticism from China.

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The US is attempting to interfere with the Beijing Games “out of ideological prejudice and based on lies and rumors,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters.

The boycott “seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto ‘more united,’” Zhao said.

As he did the previous day, Zhao vowed that China would respond with “resolute countermeasures” but offered no details.

“The US will pay a price for its practices. You may stay tuned for follow-ups,” Zhao said.

On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Biden administration will fully support US athletes competing at the Games but won’t dispatch diplomats or officials to attend.

Psaki said the US has a “fundamental commitment to promoting human rights” and that it “will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games.”

The diplomatic boycott comes as the US attempts to thread the needle between stabilizing difficult relations with Beijing and maintaining a tough stance on trade and political conflicts. The US has accused China of human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in northwest Xinjiang province, suppressing democratic movements in Hong Kong, committing military aggression against the self-ruled island of Taiwan and more.

Beijing has denounced US criticisms and punitive sanctions as interference in its internal affairs and slapped visa bans on American politicians it regards as anti-China.

Zhao warned the US to “stop politicizing sports” and cease what he said were actions undermining the Beijing Winter Olympics, “otherwise it will undermine the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in a series of important areas and international issues.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the move as posturing in a tweet.

“In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the #Beijing2022 to be successfully held,” the embassy said.

China’s mission to the United Nations called the boycott a “self-directed political farce.”

Even the ruling Communist Party’s notoriously opaque Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a response in the form of a lengthy screed on its website entitled “The Spirit of the Olympic Charter Cannot be Tarnished.”
“Some Western anti-China politicians” have shown a “defensive Cold War mentality aimed at politicizing sport,” the article said, calling that a “clear violation of the Olympic spirit and a challenge to all people who love the Olympic movement.”

People on the streets of Beijing were overall dismissive of the US move.

“I don’t think it matters at all if they would come or not. The Olympic Games are not about one country or a couple of countries,” said coffee shop employee Deng Tao.

“Such remarks from someone we never invited are simply a farce. And I don’t think it will have much impact on the holding of the Winter Olympics,” Lu Xiaolei, who works in trade.

It wasn’t clear which officials the US might have sent to Beijing for the Games and Zhao said on Monday that no invitation had been extended by China.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, whose relations with China have nosedived in recent years, said Wednesday his government would join the US in the diplomatic boycott.

New Zealand said on Tuesday it won’t be attending the games at a diplomatic level, but that it made the decision earlier due mostly to pandemic travel restrictions.

The country told China in October about its plans not to send government ministers, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said.

“But we’ve made clear to China on numerous occasions our concerns about human rights issues,” Robertson said.

The attitudes of other US allies were less clear.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday that the country would make its own decision “from the perspective of national interests, taking into consideration the significance of the Olympic Games and the significance of Japan’s diplomacy.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said a decision on officials attending would be made “at an appropriate time.”

“In any case, Japan hopes that the Beijing Winter Games will be held as a celebration of peace in line with the principles of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Matsuno said.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam declined to comment on the US decision and said the ministry had not received any request from its ally not to send officials.

South Korea hopes the Beijing Olympics will “contribute to peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and the world and help improve relations between South and North Korea,” Choi said.

The dispatching of high-level delegations to each Olympics has long been a tradition among the US and other leading nations. Then-President George W. Bush attended the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games. First lady Jill Biden led the American contingent to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year and second gentleman Doug Emhoff led a delegation to the Paralympic Games.

World

Republican lawmakers press Biden to send cluster bombs to Ukraine: Letter

Four Republican members of Congress urged US President Joe Biden to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, alleging in a Tuesday letter to the White House that the administration fears doing so would be seen as an escalation by Russia.

Ukraine is seeking the MK-20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, to release its individual explosives from drones, and 155 mm artillery cluster shells, Reuters reported earlier this month. Kyiv had urged members of Congress to press the White House to approve sending the weapons.

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The letter criticized Biden for “reluctance to provide Ukraine the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create” a breakthrough against Russian forces.

The letter was signed by Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Mike Rogers the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

It urged Biden to send the Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM) found in several types of US munitions, including 155-millimeter artillery, GMLRS and ATACMS.

It is by no means certain the Biden administration would sign off on a transfer.

Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.

World

US renews opposition to Assad normalization after UAE trip

The United States on Tuesday stood firm against nations normalizing relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after he paid his second visit in as many years to the United Arab Emirates, a close US partner.

“We will not normalize with the Assad regime nor will we encourage others absent authentic and enduring progress towards a political resolution,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

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“We continue to urge anybody engaging with Damascus to consider sincerely and thoroughly how their engagements can help provide for Syrians in need no matter where they live,” he said. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Assad on Sunday and told him that it was time for Syria to return to the Arab fold.

A growing number of nations have been repairing relations with Assad, believing he has effectively won in a brutal war that broke out in 2011.The United States under domestic law rules out any assistance for reconstruction in Assad-ruled Syria without accountability for abuses.

Assad, helped by Russian airpower, has largely restored control over Syria after the conflict that has killed half a million people, displaced half the country’s pre-war population and saw the rise of the ISIS.

Along with Arab states, neighboring Turkey — which has backed rebels fighting Assad — has recently moved to repair relations.

World

Xi and Putin agree to bolster ties in politics, energy, trade: Everything to know

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping concluded on Tuesday rounds of talks, culminating in the signing of a joint declaration stating that the two countries will strengthen their “strategic cooperation” on the international stage in the fields of politics, energy, economy, trade, and military.

After the talks, Putin and Xi held a press conference at which the Russian president said the signed joint declaration reflects the nature of Sino-Russian relations which are “at the highest level in all [their] history”. He added that the two countries “share solid bonds of neighborly relations, mutual support and assistance, and friendship between our peoples.”

Xi said: “Russian-Chinese relations are demonstrating healthy and stable development dynamics. Political mutual trust between our countries is being built up, shared interests are multiplying, our peoples are getting closer.”

He added: “Cooperation in the trade-and-economic, investment, energy, cultural, humanitarian, and inter-regional dimensions is developing.”

Putin said the joint statement of the planned expansion in key economic cooperation areas until 2030 “sets the task of increasing the volume of trade in goods and services multiple times over, deepening ties in eight strategic areas, primarily finance, industrial manufacturing and technology, as well as transport and logistics.”

The declaration stressed that the boosting of ties between Russia and China was “independent of foreign influence.”

"The sides stress that efforts toward strengthening and deepening Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era are a strategic choice independent from external influence,” the document reads according to the text published by the Kremlin.

Other dimensions of the joint declaration are:

Ukraine war

Russia and China criticized the role being played by the West (US and NATO) in the Ukraine war.

“The two sides point out that to settle the Ukraine crisis, the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be respected, bloc confrontation should be prevented and fanning the flames avoided. The two sides stress that responsible dialogue is the best way for appropriate solutions,” according to the text published by the Kremlin.

“We believe that many of the provisions of the peace plan put forward by China are consonant with Russian approaches and can be taken as the basis for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for that in the West and in Kyiv. However, so far we see no such readiness from their side,” Putin said.

Xi stressed that China maintained an “impartial position” on the conflict.

Energy

Moscow and Beijing will “jointly protect international energy security (including critical cross-border infrastructure) and stability of chains of production and supplies of energy products,” according to the Kremlin’s text.

The two countries will also “facilitate fair energy transitions and low-carbon development with consideration of the principle of technology neutrality and jointly contribute to long-term, healthy and stable development of the global energy market.”

Putin said Russia stood ready to ramp up oil and gas supplies to meet China’s growing demand for energy resources, highlighting that China is Russia’s largest oil buyer. “Russian business is able to meet the growing demand from the Chinese economy for energy resources, both as part of current projects and those that are currently being negotiated,” he said.

“By 2030, the total volume of gas supplies will be at least 98 billion cubic meters, plus 100 million tons of liquefied natural gas,” Putin added.

Trade and economy

Putin hailed China’s position as Russia’s leading trade and economic partner: “Of course, trade and economic cooperation remain a priority for us, considering that China has solidly established itself as the leading foreign trade partner for our country.”

He added: “Our two countries have been effective in working together to expand mutual trade and maintain this momentum. Last year, trade increased by 30 percent to set a new record of $185 billion. This year, trade may well exceed $200 billion, which would be a symbolic threshold.”

The two countries plan to expand the scale of the bilateral trade. “[It is planned] to increase scales and optimize the structure of trade, particularly on account of developing the electronic trade and other innovative instruments.”

The declaration added that it is also planned to “consistently promote high quality development of bilateral investment cooperation, interaction deepening in spheres of digital economy and sustainable, including green, development, form comfortable business environment and mutually increase the favoring level in trade and investments.”

Xi said the trade turnover between the two countries sky-rocketed by 110 percent over the past decade. “The trade turnover has grown by 116 percent over the decade. This made possible to not merely substantially strengthen the material basis of bilateral relations but also to give a significant impetus to socioeconomic development of both countries,” state news agency TASS quoted him as saying.

Military

The declaration stated that Moscow and Beijing will help each other defend their key interests and borders. The two countries will “provide resolute mutual support with regard to matters of defending each other’s core interests, primarily sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and development.”

US missiles

“Russia and China express concern over the United States’ increased activities toward creating a global missile defense system and deploying its elements in various parts of the world,” the declaration states.

The two countries “call on the US to stop undermining international and regional security, as well as global strategic stability in the interests of ensuring its unilateral military superiority.”

Nuclear weapons

Moscow and Beijing agree that nuclear powers should not deploy nuclear weapons abroad. “All nuclear powers must not deploy their nuclear weapons beyond their national territories, and they must withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad,” the declaration reads.

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