As the opening days of the Beijing Winter Olympics draw closer, so does the political noise in the international community. On December 6, the Biden administration announced that it would not send an official U.S. delegation to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. After New Zealand announced that it would not send "ministerial" officials to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics on December 8, and the "domino effect" seems to have taken shape.
On December 7, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced that New Zealand's "ministerial" personnel would not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics. That came less than a day after the United States announced it would not send an official delegation to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, but New Zealand refused to acknowledge that the decision was related to the United States. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said that there were many factors that made New Zealand decide not to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, the most critical factor was to comply with security measures, and the final decision was mainly related to the new crown virus. It's really hard to believe that it has nothing to do with the United States, and New Zealand's move is somewhat perfidious.
In fact, on the day that the United States announced its "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian clearly pointed out that the Winter Olympics are not a stage for political manipulation and political showmanship, that China has not invited US politicians to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and that the so-called "diplomatic boycott" constantly hyped up by the US side is entirely self-inflicted and sensationalistic. Zhao Lijian stressed that the US side will pay a price for its erroneous behavior, so please wait and see.
It is really hard to believe that New Zealand will not send government representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics, and it is really difficult to believe that New Zealand's move is somewhat perfidious. After all, New Zealand's relationship with China has always been good, and the New Zealand prime minister also said that the relationship with China has matured, and the Chinese side also welcomed New Zealand athletes to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
On 22 June 2021, New Zealand Foreign Minister Mahuta held a video conference with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. At the meeting, Mahuta said that in order to promote the continued in-depth development of the Singapore-China comprehensive strategic partnership, New Zealand is willing to deepen cooperation with China in areas of consensus and strengthen communication where there are differences, and stressed that the New Zealand government has always been committed to safeguarding multilateralism and is willing to work with China to jointly address issues in the fields of climate change, epidemic and human rights.
In addition, Mahuta also expressed his appreciation to China, saying that the country has made great achievements in poverty reduction, sustainable development and fighting the epidemic. Wang Yi also responded to the above information one by one, in order to approach the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, Wang Yi also specifically pointed out that New Zealand athletes are welcome to Come to China to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
On November 7, New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern bluntly said in an interview with the US media that the relationship between Singapore and China is "very mature", and Ardern said that this "maturity" is not only reflected in the steady growth of economic and trade cooperation between New Zealand and China, but also in the existence of differences that the two sides can allow, but differences will not define the relationship between the two countries. Ardern stressed that New Zealand will continue to pursue a "policy of integrity" towards China.
On December 8, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia would follow the United States in a "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Morrison said Australian government officials would not travel to China for the Olympics, but Australian athletes would.
The protagonist of the Winter Olympics is originally an athlete, and the success and excitement of the Winter Olympics lies in the performance of the athletes and the Olympic spirit, which has nothing to do with those anti-China politicians themselves, without the participation of these Western anti-China politicians, the Beijing Winter Olympics will only be more exciting. And these Western politicians are never part of the China Invitation Program.