U.S. balks on Olympic Truce over human rights in China

IOC president Thomas Bach says he’s not bothered by the failure of some prominent nations to co-sponsor the Olympic Truce for the Beijing Olympics at the United Nations (UN) last month.

The United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and France were among the nations which abstained from co-sponsoring the resolution which drew 173 nations out of 193 member nations.

“In this context we remind the host country and all Member States of the need to comply with their human rights obligations and commitments, including those enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to use these Olympic and Paralympic Games to take steps to build a peaceful and better world,” says the U.S. statement which did not mention China by name.

The action by the U.S. came November 24, nearly two weeks before U.S. president Joseph Biden formally declared on December 6 the U.S. would launch a diplomatic boycott against Beijing 2022 over human rights concerns.

IOC President Thomas Bach said it’s not the first time politics have entered the discussion at the U.N. over the Olympic Truce resolution. Passage of the document is a pro forma action the U.N. has taken ahead of every Olympic Games.

“The sponsoring of this resolution by 173 nations for a Winter Games is a high number,” said Bach at a media briefing Wednesday from IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. He noted that all 193 member nations ended up approving the resolution by consensus, regardless of objections from the U.S.

“The statement was not about the IOC or the Games themselves. The U.S. representative expressed the U.S. government’s concerns about the human rights situation in China in general,” said Bach.

He notes that in past U.N. Olympic truce resolutions, even more comments have been placed into the record than the single objection voiced last month by the U.S.

Following the White House declaration of the diplomatic boycott on Monday, the U.S. has been joined by Canada, Australia and the U.K. The participation of athletes is not affected by the boycott which will only keep officials from those nations from going to Beijing in February.

Bach spoke after a second day of a three day schedule of meetings for the IOC Executive Board that is being conducted virtually.

In the briefing today, Bach defended the contact the IOC has made with Chinese Olympian tennis player Peng Shuai. More than a month ago in an online posting she accused a former top government leader of sexual assault. The posting was removed minutes later. Since then Peng has has little contact with the outside world except for two video conferences with Bach and the IOC.

Bach, who won’t disclose specifics of the IOC calls to Peng, said today that the “physical integrity” of the tennis player has been verified as a result of the IOC contact.

Bach said that the situation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes and officials in Afghanistan was a key agenda item today. Described as another example of the IOC style of “quiet diplomacy” Bach says the EB approved $560,000 in humanitarian aid for individuals which the ruling Taliban government has approved for distribution. The IOC has been in discussions with the new government for a few weeks now on issues involving sport, including the participation of women.

The IOC EB will meet for one final day on Thursday. Decisions on the status of two troubled international federations could be coming. The International Weightlifting Federation and boxing federation AIBA are under IOC watch for a range of issues from administration to drug testing. At stake is a place on the program for the 2024 Games in Paris.

The IOC president is expected to return for a closing press conference.