Former US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, has deemed it "completely inappropriate" to hold Olympics in Beijing, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is committing crimes against democracies around the world.
"The Olympics are an expression of freedom and athletic talent. To hold them in Beijing, while the CCP is committing crimes against democracies around the world, is completely inappropriate," Pompeo tweeted.
Beijing has been selected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, making it the first city ever to host both a Summer and Winter Games.
Pompeo, a vociferous critic of Beijing, said the previous administration had tried in its final months to persuade the International Olympic Committee to move the Winter Games.
"I hope that our athletes get a chance to participate in the Olympics. They very much deserve that," Pompeo told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
There have been growing calls for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year.
After Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in July last year, calls for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing began. Those boycott calls have increased as criticism has intensified, South China Morning Post reported.
As part of its vote on the Xinjiang genocide, the Canadian parliament called for exploring moving the Winter Olympics, a proposal that Beijing fiercely rejected.
China will "seriously sanction" any country that boycotts the Beijing Olympics, the editor of the nationalist tabloid the Global Times warned.
( With inputs from ANI )
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