Opinion | Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: meaningless Western boycott would only prove US weakness

With less than 10 months to go before the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, some in Washington are calling for the Biden administration to lead an international boycott of the Games in protest against China’s policies in Xinjiang province.

If the US did decide to boycott the Games, it would be unlikely to go it alone but would do so jointly with like-minded countries. But, just like many other steps the US government has taken against China in recent months, such actions would be self-defeating in more ways than one.

First, Washington could struggle to amass enough partners to make a meaningful impact on the Games. Its most likely partners are Canada, Britain and Australia, with the last two hardly being winter sports superpowers.

Washington’s allies in Asia are less likely to go along with any boycott. With the exception of Japan and South Korea, most Asian countries have little interest in winter sports, but they do have a strong interest in summer sports.

The problem for them is that the upcoming Asian Games will take place in September 2022 in Hangzhou. Those games are critically important for athletes who wish to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

For the first time, the Asian Games will also include athletes from Oceania, which would probably give Australia pause before it decided to join any US-led boycott. How would these countries be able to justify boycotting the Games in Beijing only to show up in Hangzhou six months later?