The country joins the list of states that have decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.
And now Denmark. The Scandinavian state announced on Friday that it will not send official representatives to the Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest against human rights violations in China. “The government has decided that we will not participate in the Winter Olympics in China (…). It is no secret that we in Denmark are very concerned about the human rights situation in China”, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod announced.
Before Denmark, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom had already decided on a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing to denounce in particular the violations of human rights by China in its Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang. Earlier this week, Sweden also announced that no official representative would participate in the Olympics ceremonies, but the country justifies its decision by the context of the pandemic.
Athletes will be fine
This decision came at the end of a European meeting during which “Unfortunately it is not possible to reach an agreement between the 27 countries. Different choices were made about the way forward.”, explained the head of Danish diplomacy.
On the other hand, the Danish athletes will participate well in the competitions. “Danish athletes can count on the full support of the government. And we’ll encourage them, as we always do, followed by Jeppe Kofod. But we will do it from home, not from the stands in Beijing. »
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