Activist Lhadon Tethong of the Tibet Action Institute told the Associated Press that the time for discussion with the IOC is over, as she has previously led a campaign for Tibet to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tethong's campaign in 2007 led to her being arrested and deported from China.
BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 15: A commemorative envelope with the logos of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games is revealed at a Beijing 2022 themed activity during the National Day for Helping the Disabled on May 15, 2021 in Beijing, ChinaGroups alleging human-rights abuses against minorities in China are calling for a full-blown boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a move likely to ratchet up pressure on the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors and sports federations.
The Beijing Games are set to open on Feb. 4, 2022, just six months after the postponed Summer Olympics in Tokyo are to end. "People have worked to engage with the IOC in good faith to have them understand the issues directly from the mouths of those most impacted — the Uyghurs at the top of that list and the Tibetans and others," Tethong said."It's clear the IOC is completely uninterested in what the real impacts on the ground for people are."
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, spelled out the dilemma for athletes in a recent interview on"You certainly don't want to be put in the position of having to choose between human rights like morality versus being able to do your job," she said., which generates about 40% of all IOC revenue, sports federations, civil society groups"and anyone that will listen.""First is the moral question," Tethong said.
Last week, human rights groups and Western nations led by the United States, Britain and Germany accused China of massive crimes against the Uyghur minority and demanded unimpeded access for U.N. experts.
Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)