Focus on Arts and Ecology

December 10, 2021

A diplomatic rollercoaster.

It's been two weeks since the virtual summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden took place, with experts now worrying about the fate of their relationship. 

U.S. President Joe Biden announced that no administration officials will attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February next year, over China's alleged human rights abuses. China has slammed the United States and its allies' diplomatic boycott and said it will take resolute countermeasures against the U.S. 

Here's a recap of this week's headlines: 

• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday that the U.S. politicians hyping up a "diplomatic boycott" of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games without having been invited is pure grandstanding
• China has lodged stern representations with Australia over its "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday 
• China has lodged stern representations with Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that Canadian officials would not be attending the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said on Thursday
• China says it has not invited UK ministers or officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February after British prime minister Boris Johnson told Parliament they would not be attending.
• IOC: "The presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision for each government, which the IOC in its political neutrality fully respect." 
• French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would rather work with the International Olympic Committee on the protection of athletes around the world than engage in "insignificant" boycotts

On another note, the United States held the "Summit for Democracy" on Thursday and Friday.  More than 30 countries, including China, Russia and Singapore, have not been invited. The summit has drawn criticism from different nations.

What exactly was Biden's motivation for this summit? 

China's Taiwan region was joined by other invitees, including the UK and Japan, with the goal of 'rallying the like-minded' around efforts to fight corruption and advance human rights. 

On December 4, China released a white paper on its governance system, that it calls the whole-process people's democracy. The document says whether a country is democratic should be judged by its people, not dictated by a handful of outsiders. Foreign politicians say China's developments in recent decades are a testament to the success of the country's governance system.

(Sources: China Report)