Beijing Olympics 2022 controversy: Why and which nations are boycotting Winter Games?

The Winter Olympics Games in Beijing 2022 which started from February 4 and will go on till the 20th has seen around 91 delegations joining the competition in China, as compared to 206 that had travelled to Japan for the Summer Olympics.

So why are the number of participating countries at the Winter Games is much smaller than that seen at the Summer Games in Tokyo? There could be multiple reasons for the same, but the three that stand out are one due to most countries don't have the weather conditions that would be conducive to excelling in Winter Games and the second and other being the Covid-19 pandemic. However, one of the most important reasons some countries are 'boycotting' the Games is due to China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups.

Let's have a step by step look at why some countries are not present and some are boycotting Winter Games:

Weather conditions:

As compared to Summer Olympics - where almost all countries take part - the Winter Games sees lees numbers due to the weather conditions. The events at the Winter Olympics are games practised on snow or ice, and some countries find these in short supply. Although some tropical countries have sent athletes to the Games, none of them has ever won a medal.

More than half of the countries that will not be at the Winter Olympics are from Africa. Out of 54 nations in the continent, only Eritrea, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, and Nigeria have sent competitors. Kenya too had an athlete qualified, but later on, withdrew.

The Covid-19 pandemic:

While climate played a major factor, the outbreak of the pandemic also was another factor that hindered the participation of some countries. North Korea stated they would not send their athletes citing Covid-19 as a reason.

The Diplomatic boycott:

In protest at China's rights record, the United States (US) and many of its allies, including Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan and Denmark, had said that they would be sending in their athletes, but will not send an official diplomatic delegation to the Winter Olympics.

The boycott began after rights groups criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for awarding the Games to China and stated that the country's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups was inhuman. The United States even deemed it a genocide, however, China denied all allegations.

According to UN experts and rights groups, more than a million people, mainly from the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in camps in Xinjiang. 

Lithuania was the first country to confirm a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Australia, Britain, Canada and Japan joined Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Estonia in the decision to not send diplomats to Beijing for the Games. Other nations, such as Sweden, New Zealand, Slovenia and Austria also had confirmed not sending any government representative to China.

India to also boycott:

India was the latest to join the boycott after Beijing picked a Chinese soldier involved in the Galwan incident as an Olympic torchbearer. India said that its envoy will not attend the opening or closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. This meant that New Delhi will boycott the Olympics at the diplomatic level although it will send an athlete for the event.

The Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had told reporters: "It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics… the Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics."

 

Here is a list of countries that will be missing the 2022 Winter Games.

Afghanistan

Algeria

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

The Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Botswana

Brunei

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Cuba

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Gabon

The Gambia

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Honduras

Indonesia

Iraq

Jordan

Kenya

Kiribati

North Korea

Kuwait

Laos

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Malawi

Maldives

Mali

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Micronesia

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Nicaragua

Niger

Oman

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Qatar

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Sudan

South Sudan

Suriname

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Togo

Tonga

Tunisia

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

Uruguay

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe