China rages at 'Boycott 2022 Winter Olympics' demand by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the world to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over human rights violations against the Uighurs, and ethnic minorities, China on Wednesday slammed Pelosi for what it described as the US’ ‘smear campaign’. "The remarks of a few US individuals are full of lies and disinformation. It is a typical US farce and is doomed to fail,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing. He further slammed the US for its attempt to interfere with, hinder and disrupt Beijing’s Winter Olympics. Zhao said Pelosi's remarks were filled with “shameless fudged facts”. 

Expressing “strong dissatisfaction” against the US House Speaker’s comments that she made earlier this week, China’s Foreign Minister condemned United States’ ideologies and alleged political prejudice towards the People’s Republic. “A few individuals in the US use the so-called human rights issue to tarnish the image of China,” China’s state-run press quoted Zhao saying. He furthermore reminded the US of the Olympic Charter, which he said “clearly requires” the maintenance and promotion of independence and political neutrality of Olympic games. Zhao told the presser that the politicization of games is a breach of the terms listed in the Olympic Charter, adding that China was preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics already and the US was “playing despicable political tricks.” 

US House Speaker Pelosi calls for ‘diplomatic boycott’

Speaking at a bipartisan congressional hearing, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "let's not honour Chinese government by having heads of state go to China.” She called for a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics asking the world’s heads of state not to attend the games in Beijing in opposition to China’s human rights abuses on ethnic minority communities and Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province in north-western China. "For heads of state to go to China in light of a genocide that is ongoing - while you're sitting there in your seat - really begs the question, what moral authority do you have to speak again about human rights any place in the world?" Pelosi said in her Congressional address.  Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington Liu Pengyu slammed Pelosi asking what gave her the 'moral authority to hurtle such claims.