Beijing’s decision to field Qi Fabao — a military officer involved in the 2020 Galwan Valley clash — as its torchbearer for the mega sporting event, has led to India announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Games
Qi Fabao, a PLA regiment commander, suffered head injuries in Galwan Valley clash with Indian troops. Image Courtesy: @globaltimesnews
India on Thursday joined the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics being held in China.
We examine why this boycott has taken place, its consequences and how other nations are reacting to it.
India’s diplomatic boycott
On Thursday, India announced that its top diplomat in China will skip the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The decision came as a result of China’s decision of fielding a military officer involved in the 2020 Galwan Valley clash as its torchbearer for the mega sporting event — a move decried as ‘regrettable’ by the Indian side.
Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry in a press interaction, said that the Chinese had chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics and that the Charge d’Affaires of the Indian embassy in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony.
The charge d’affaires at the embassy is the senior-most diplomat at present as ambassador-designate Pradeep Kumar Rawat is yet to take charge.
“We have seen the reports on this issue. It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics. I wish to inform that the charge d’affaires of the embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” Bagchi said.
The opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Games will take place today.
The controversy erupted when Beijing announced that they had chosen Qi Fabao to carry the Winter Olympic torch in Beijing.
Fabao, a People’s Liberation Army regiment commander had sustained a head injury during the 15 June 2020 clash with India in the Galwan Valley.
Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the clashes that marked the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in decades.
In February 2021, China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes with the Indian Army though it is widely believed that the death toll was higher.
However, Australian newspaper The Klaxon on Wednesday carried a report which said China’s losses in the Galwan Valley clash were much higher than reported with many soldiers drowning while crossing a fast-flowing river in darkness.
US extends support to India
The Chinese’s decision to field Fabao as a torchbearer was also criticised by the United States. Top US lawmakers on Thursday described the move as “shameful” and “deliberately provocative”.
Republican Senator Jim Risch, a Ranking Member of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted, “It’s shameful that Beijing chose a torchbearer for the Olympics 2022 who’s part of the military command that attacked India in 2020 and is implementing genocide against the Uyghurs. The US will continue to support Uyghur freedoms and the sovereignty of India.”
In another tweet, Senator Marco Rubio said it is another “outrageous example of the #CCP’s flagrant politicisation of Beijing2022. Their decision to choose a soldier who participated in a 2020 ambush against Indian troops as torchbearer is appalling and deliberately provocative.
The Senator from Florida said he stands with India.
Diplomatic boycott by other countries
In December 2021, the Joe Biden administration had announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said, “The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games given the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.”
Lithuania, the Baltic nation, also announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in December 2021. Vilnius and Beijing have been embroiled in a diplomatic spat since August, when Lithuania confirmed plans to allow Taiwan a de facto embassy in its capital, with a Lithuanian counterpart scheduled to open in Taipei in 2022.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison too announced a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 on 8 December, saying the decision should come as “no surprise” given deteriorating relations with China beginning in spring 2020, when he called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
British prime minister Boris Johnson also announced that UK would be joining the nations in a diplomatic boycott of the Games.
Other nations such as Canada, Latvia, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Japan, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and Czech Republic all joined in.
Does a diplomatic boycott matter?
A diplomatic boycott doesn’t affect athletes. Many believe that a diplomatic boycott doesn’t really affect the Games or China.
Experts state by refusing to participate in the Olympics, it would perhaps raise awareness of the violations that China stands accused of.
With inputs from agencies
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