ZIO in 67 days: a diplomatic briefing with a possible game boycott in the background

The organizers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics organized a diplomatic briefing attended by representatives of more than 70 countries. The main topic was the organization of the arrival and stay of the leaders of the visiting countries.

This meeting took place at a time when several countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, are considering boycotting the Beijing Olympics due to human rights concerns in China. During the briefing itself, a plan and program covering arrival and departure, accommodation, transportation, and safety of Chief Visitors and Sports Ministers was presented. In addition, the topic of preparedness of regulators for the institution itself, that is, all protocols for COVID-19, was discussed.

However, it is still unclear how many heads and representatives of countries will participate in the Games, which will start on February 4, 2022. More and more votes are pointing to a possible diplomatic boycott. However, this is a rather dynamic topic, since on the one hand Russian President Vladimir Putin has already accepted the invitation to the opening ceremony, and on the other hand, US President Joe Biden acknowledged at the beginning of the month that America would take the boycott very seriously.

Any accusations against China, such as the genocide perpetrated by the government against the Uyghur population, are unfortunately nothing new. On the other hand, human rights violations have returned after the disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. Despite this, the organizers are optimistic. How it will ultimately end, who will come to China, who will decide the boycott and whether the Olympics will actually be safe as the organizer asserts, will be revealed in February.