Thus, Australia joins the United States in the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, hosted by Beijing, next February.
“Australia will not back down from the strong position it has taken to defend its interests, and it is not surprising that we will not send Australian officials to these games,” which will be hosted by the Chinese capital, Morrison said.
He explained that the decision to boycott was taken in the midst of a “discord” between Canberra and Beijing over a number of files, including Australian laws against foreign interference and the Australian government’s decision to purchase nuclear-powered submarines.
Similar to the US decision, the Australian diplomatic boycott of the Olympics will not prevent Australian athletes from participating in the international event.
On Monday, the United States announced that it would allow its athletes to participate in the Olympics, but would not send any political or diplomatic official to it, in a move it attributed to other human rights violations in China.
Beijing quickly responded to the US decision, threatening Washington to “pay the price.”
“The United States will pay the price for its bad move. Watch what happens,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
The Australian Prime Minister also justified the boycott decision on human rights violations in China.
“The Chinese government did not accept that we meet to discuss these issues,” he said.
Since 2018, relations between Australia and China have witnessed increasing tensions, especially at the trade level, and ministerial contacts between the two countries have been frozen for two years.
Among the most prominent reasons that angered China with Australia, the laws passed by the latter to combat foreign interference, in addition to Canberra’s request for an independent investigation to reveal the origin of the Corona pandemic.
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