Senate Republicans introduced a resolution Tuesday demanding China no longer host the 2022 Winter Olympics, citing human-rights abuses within the country.
The resolution, which was introduced by Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) and backed by six other Senate Republicans, cites the ongoing genocide in Xinjiang along with several other human-rights abuses from Beijing as grounds for moving the Olympics. In the resolution, the Republican delegation blasted China’s actions as "inconsistent with Olympic values."
"The flagrant human rights abuses committed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China are inconsistent with Olympic values," the resolution reads. "Unless the Government of the People’s Republic of China demonstrates significant progress in securing fundamental human rights, including the freedoms of religion, speech, movement, association, and assembly, the International Olympic Committee should rebid the 2022 Winter Olympics to be hosted by a country that recognizes and respects human rights."
New information regarding the human-rights situation in Xinjiang emerged Tuesday. Reports from the BBC indicate that Chinese authorities subjected Uighur women to systematic rape and sexual abuse in concentration camps, along with already documented forced birth control and torture. The Trump administration declared the crimes against Uighurs a genocide in January.
Biden administration officials, meanwhile, have offered conflicting statements about their own assessment of ongoing crimes against Uighurs.
In the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the United States chose not to attend due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The Biden administration, however, has not yet entertained a boycott of the 2022 Olympics. In a Wednesday briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there have been no internal conversations within the Biden administration about boycotting or attempting to relocate the 2022 Olympics.
"We're not currently talking about changing our posture or our plans as it relates to the Beijing Olympics," Psaki said. "There’s no discussion underway of a change in our plans from the United States at this point in time."