European Parliament Breaks Protocol by Politicizing Beijing Winter Olympic Games

Monday, July 12, 2021

Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst

The European Parliament passed a resolution calling on European Union leaders to decline China’s invitation to attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. However, their attempt to politicize the Winter Olympics by calling for diplomatic boycotts, thus smearing China, will mostly fall on deaf ears.

The non-binding European Parliament resolution was adopted on July 8 and urged EU officials and member states to decline all Chinese government and diplomatic invitations to the Winter Olympics in Beijing unless the country takes steps to improve the so-called human rights situation in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and other parts of China. Under the new resolution, the previous decision to suspend an EU investment agreement with China will remain frozen until the Asian Giant lifts its sanctions against European Members of Parliament. They do not mention however that sanctions on EU MP’s were countermeasures made by China.

China is going through a historic period, especially after celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1. The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party will also be held in the Fall of 2022. Under the current situation, China will not make any fundamental concessions to the West, and therefore any effort to change Beijing’s policies to be in line with Western-styled liberalism through coercion and pressure campaigns will have little chance of success. The confrontation between Beijing and the West in the ideological and political spheres will not dissipate as the rise of China presents other successful models of governance that challenges, and in many cases, exposes the weaknesses of Western-styled liberalism. 

With the passing of the non-binding European Parliament resolution, it can be expected that many Western officials will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics. However, China already expects the investment deal to remain frozen for a very long time. In addition, ​​large-scale international sporting events are opportunities to showcase to the international arena China’s important global status and the progress it has made, especially since the time it hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

Although China is unlikely to be overly worried about a potential diplomatic boycott, at least publicly to maintain a positive image towards the Beijing Winter Olympics, it does not negate that Western politicians and radical political forces will do their best to spoil the atmosphere. It is likely that Beijing will respond if the West exerts too pressure and could adopt countermeasures, especially in the economic sphere.

The 2008 Summer Olympics also had calls for boycott, but this mostly emanated from celebrities like Steven Spielberg and did not amount to anything serious. However, the international system has significantly changed since then. 2008 saw the first strong suggestions of an emerging multipolar world order. It is recalled that in 2008, despite NATO pressures and threats, Moscow intervened in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict to defend Russian passport holders. This was the first major sign that states could successfully defend their interests ever since the advent of the U.S.-dominated unipolar system emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Followed by the so-called Arab Spring in 2011, the U.S.’ international power was exposed for being overstretched, and coupled with the 2007-2008 Global Financial crisis, China presented itself as a serious challenge to Western economic dominance.

Although China was accused of human rights violations leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the country was still not the economic powerhouse that it is today, especially since the Belt and Road Initiative was not announced for the first time until five years later in 2013. With China in a much stronger economic position, particularly with its transportation and economic projects all across the world, including in Europe, attempts to pressure and discredit the Asian country is only intensifying.

The non-binding European Parliament resolution is an example of some European politicians serving the anti-China agenda that mostly originates from the Anglo World, particularly the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia. Although the Olympic Games are supposed to be apolitical, boycotts of the Olympic Games are used as a pressure tool, as seen throughout the Cold War period.

China’s diplomatic delegation to the EU called the European Parliament’s resolution a gross interference in China’s internal affairs and highlighted that some in Europe are trying to disrupt and sabotage the Winter Olympics. Undoubtedly some heads of states and diplomats will boycott the Winter Olympics. It is recalled that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Czech President Václav Klaus boycotted the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, outside of the Anglosphere, calls for boycotting the Winter Olympics will likely fall on deaf ears as China is an important economic partner for many European countries, especially those from Southern/Mediterranean Europe.

Source: InfoBrics