Rights groups call for boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Names like Adidas and Burberry face a dilemma: either respect a boycott on cotton from China's Xinjiang region — reportedly produced using forced Uyghur labor — or lose access to the world's biggest consumer market.

Beijing holds speed skating test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Speed Skating Oval, also known as the Ice Ribbon. Medallists are given awards in a contact-free manner where they pick up their prizes from the podium as part of the Covid-19 prevention measures.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday called for a "diplomatic boycott" of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of China's human rights violations.

Seoul has threatened to boycott the Tokyo Olympic Games over an ongoing territorial dispute. South Korea filed a complaint after the release of a map marking remote islands between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

The elections, which took place amid a widespread election boycott by anti-government activists, didn't generate much enthusiasm among Iraq's young population.

Human rights activists on Monday (October 19) urged governments and athletes world-wide to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China as Athens prepared to hand over the Olympic flame to Beijing in a ceremony in the capital, saying that anything less would make the world complicit in what they called 'genocide' by Beijing. China's treatment of minorities has come under increased scrutiny in the run-up to the games, scheduled from Feb. 4-20. Activists protested at Ancient Olympia on Monday, where the flame lighting ceremony was held.

China warned Western nations on Thursday they would "pay the price" for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

IOC senior member Dick Pound told German radio that China would allow athletes to speak freely during news conferences. He said politics does not factor into decision-making on events.

The United States has announced a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing over China’s “egregious” rights abuses, a move the Chinese government has said would be met with “resolute countermeasures”.

The end of the standoff clears the way for ministers to meet after a three-month gap and come up with a plan to stop the country's economic meltdown.

Uyghurs say China's treatment of the Muslim minority group in the remote Xinjiang region amounts to "genocide." They are calling for a boycott of the upcoming Games.

Over 200 NGOs and rights organizations have called for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. They have raised concerns about atrocities and human rights violations by the Chinese government.