Report Says Biden Will Be Invited to Beijing Olympics

The U.S. State Department is not commenting on the prospect of President Joe Biden receiving an invitation to attend the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

U.S. cable TV channel CNBC is reporting that Chinese Premier Xi Jinping may extend the invite to Biden next week when the two leaders hold a virtual summit.

The invitation would be an intriguing move in the diplomatic chess game involving the Beijing Olympics being played with China by the U.S. and the G7 nations.

Members of the U.S. Congress and parliamentarians in Europe have been calling for action against China for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the western region of the nation. China is accused of human rights violations with mass incarcerations of Uyghurs. China denies mistreating the Muslim minority.

While there have been calls by critics for an outright boycott of the Olympics, that move has largely been ruled out as harmful only to the athletes who would compete in Beijing. As an alternative, proposals are being floated for a diplomatic boycott that calls for government leaders and their emissaries to stay away.

Mitt Romney, former CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and now a U.S. Senator from Utah, is leading an effort to block any funding for U.S. officials to travel to Beijing for the Olympics.

Biden has not made any comments on the possibility of a U.S. protest over the 2022 Games. The U.S. State Department has criticized China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, calling it a “mass detention and political indoctrination campaign”.

The virtual summit with Biden and Xi could happen early next week. It would be the most extensive meeting between the two men since Biden took office in January.

Should Xi extend an invitation to the U.S. president, Biden would have to make a choice that could infuriate allies or put a chill on relations with China. Besides trade issues, the U.S. is dealing with military moves by China as well as competition by China for diplomatic influence around the globe.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is the only high profile head of state known to have accepted an invitation to the Games in February.

Biden could counter an invitation to the Olympics with one for Xi to attend a conference in December for countries ruled by democratic principles.

The coronavirus could offer an out for both leaders with the Beijing Olympics being held under strict protocols limiting the numbers of official visitors for the Games. Foreign spectators will not be permitted to attend the Beijing Olympics, as was the case this year with the Tokyo Games. As head of state, Olympic protocol calls for Xi to declare the opening of the Games during ceremonies February 4.

First Lady Jill Biden represented the U.S. in Tokyo. Joe Biden attended the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver when he served as vice-president in the Barack Obama White House.