China has demanded that the United States refrain from “interfering” in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which begin next week, in an apparent allusion to a diplomatic embargo imposed by Washington and some of its allies.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the demand during a phone chat with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, Beijing time.
The United States has announced that it will not send dignitaries to the Games, which begin on February 4, in protest of China’s incarceration of over one million Uyghur Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, as well as crackdowns on human rights elsewhere in the country.
The boycott does not preclude American athletes from competing in the Games, which are being hosted under tight anti-pandemic guidelines. China has also opposed what it claims are State Department demands to evacuate staff and dependents from embassy and consulates around the country in response to the tightening restrictions.
Wang also called for an end to US backing for self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, according to a news release posted on the ministry’s website on Thursday.
During a monthly briefing on Thursday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian responded to a question about US military movements in the Asia-Pacific region by saying China’s armed forces were “fully prepared to deal with any foreign provocations or emergency situations” that may arise during the Olympics.
The United States maintains that it does not accept most of China’s claims in the strategically important South China Sea and routinely sails warships and flies planes near Chinese-held islands.
Foreign Minister Wang also claimed that, despite its declared desire for a less combative relationship, President Joe Biden’s administration has maintained tough political and economic measures implemented previously.
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