The European Conservatives and Reformists Party calls on the international community to boycott the Winter Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Beijing in February 2022.

The games are taking place against the backdrops of a growing list of human rights violations in China, from the persecution of Christians, to the enslavement of Uyghur and Tibetan People, as well as the erosion of democratic autonomy in Hong Kong. Further to the internal issues, China has been openly aggressive to its neighbours, mounting an increasing number of armed flights into Taiwanese territory, and continuing its policy of militarising the South China Sea.

We also express our deep concern at the recent reports of sexual violence and rape being used by the Chinese authorities against Uyghur people in Xinjiang. We asses that CPC’s cruelties in Xinjiang should be treated as genocide. Such dehumanising actions by the Communist regime show once again that it is distancing itself from the international community.

The Olympics, from the beginning, have been organised in the spirit of cooperation between nations, and towards the promotion of peace around the world. In the past dictators have tried to subvert this message to give legitimacy to their cause, from the Nazi Germany in 1936, to the Soviet Union in 1980, and in those cases democracies have boycotted the games. The case of China in 2022 is no different.

We in the West cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of people living under a communist regime in China. As such we call on European Union member states to take the symbolic act of boycotting the Winter Olympics in 2022. We call on the sponsors of the Olympic Games to reassess their engagement in this controversial event, which does not follow the spirit of the Olympics. Sports competitions cannot be misused by totalitarian regimes, as a smokescreen for its oppressive and aggressive policies.

ECR Party Secretary General Anna Fotyga MEP said: “No democratic country in the West should sit by and allow what is happening in China to continue. China’s actions against Uyghurs amounted to a genocide. Oppressions against Christians and Tibetans have dramatically increased . and the arrest of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong cannot go unanswered. We must boycott these games and send a clear message to the PRC that their oppressive policies will not go unanswered and are in striking contrast to the Olympic spirit and values.”