'Stop interfering' in Winter Olympics: Top Chinese diplomat tells US

A few days ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics, China has said Washington should avoid interference in the Games and also stop flaring tensions up around the Taiwan issue.

This message was conveyed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.

"The United States should stop interfering with the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue, and stop creating all kinds of anti-China 'circles'," the Chinese Foreign Minister said, as cited in a foreign ministry statement.

Biden administration in December had announced its decision not to send an official delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics citing human rights violations in China.

This was followed by the UK, Australia, and Canada. Their athletes will still participate in the Games nonetheless. The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20.

A Chinese state media report last week had slammed the US over call for the Olympic boycott.

State media tabloid Global Times in an editorial said the US government has "tried had to incite" its allies to diplomatically boycott the Beijing Games, but "most of the US allies haven't danced to Washington's tune."

The Chinese Communist Party-run daily said the US itself eventually is sending 46 officials to attend the Beijing 2022 Games. "The diplomatic boycott has completely turned into a farce," it added.