Beijing official on Tutu, US visa report, Trudeau

China on Monday appeared to confirm a report suggesting that the US was applying for visas for a group of US officials for the Beijing Games.

The South China Morning Post, citing anonymous sources, reported on Friday that the US administration had submitted applications for three-month visas for 18 officials, including one from the Pentagon and 15 from the State Department.

The officials would be providing "security support" during the Games, according to SCMP.

At a regular news briefing in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China would handle the visa application according to "international practice, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity".

The Biden administration earlier this month announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics over human rights concerns, saying it would not dispatch diplomats or officials to attend the Winter Games.

Zhao once again urged the US to follow the Olympic spirit and "stop politicising sports and... any words or actions that disrupt and undermine"  the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Canada was quick to join the US in announcing a diplomatic boycott.

And in an interview broadcast on Saturday, Canada's prime minister accused China of "playing" Western countries against each other and suggested that they should "do a better job of working together and standing strong", to prevent Beijing from dividing them.

Asked about Justin Trudeau's comments, Zhao said the interview was full of "misunderstanding and misjudgements" about China, adding bilateral relations with Canada now stood "at a crossroad".

Relations deteriorated since Canada's detention of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in late 2018 at the behest of the US.

China arrested two Canadian citizens in retaliation.

During the briefing, Zhao also paid tribute to South Africa's anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu, who died on Sunday at the age of 90.