US lawmakers urge IOC to consider other locations for Beijing Olympics

Top US lawmakers from the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a resolution on Monday (local time), urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move the 2022 Winter Games, citing human rights violation against Uyghur by the Chinese government.

This comes as legislators in nine other countries -- United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Lithuania, Italy, Czech Republic -- and the EU Parliament took similar action in a coordinated international effort.

The resolution introduced on Monday in the US Congress urges the IOC to publicly clarify its policies on association of the games with gross human rights violations in Xinjiang province.

It initiates an emergency search process for alternative replacement facilities for the 2022 games should persecution of the Uyghurs and other grave abuses continue. Moreover, the resolution offers a public set of actionable recourses should the IOC note infringements on the freedom of expression during Olympics games.

"In the face of genocide, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China are looking to the world for support. By turning a blind eye to the PRC's gross human rights violations in Xinjiang, the IOC is betraying its own charter and legitimizing the PRC's actions at a time when the international community should be lock-step in condemnation," said Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Meeks.

"The CCP's genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities is the moral test of our time. By granting the CCP an opportunity to cover up its atrocities and improve its image on the global stage, the IOC is violating its own principles and tarnishing its own brand. I'm proud to stand with Members on both sides of aisle, alongside allies from other democratic countries, in holding the IOC and CCP accountable," said Foreign Affairs Ranking Member McCaul.

In May, a bipartisan bill was introduced pressing American corporate sponsors of the IOC to urge the international committee to move the games--and cutting off US government contracts to companies that continue to subsidize the games if they remain in Beijing.

Chair Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul previously led a bipartisan bill pushing the State Department to urgently ensure American athletes are fully informed of ongoing human right abuses in China and risks to freedom of expression for athletes and participants in the 2022 Olympics.

Ranking Member McCaul and Chair Meeks also led a bipartisan resolution that advanced through the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemning the ongoing abuses in Xinjiang as genocide and urging urgent action by the United States government.

Despite numerous reports and mounting evidence, China continues to deny allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang province.