US Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to sponsors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanding that the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to be moved from Beijing to another country, citing human rights abuses in China.
"We cannot give a nation that is so overtly abusing human rights a platform to whitewash its crimes by hosting the Olympic Games," Scott said on Tuesday. "Therefore, I am asking you to stand for human rights and freedom, and use your considerable leverage as a sponsor of the 2022 Olympic Games to publicly urge the IOC to move the games to a nation that values human dignity and freedom."
In his letter, Scott said China has engaged in human rights violations against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
"New reports have shown unspeakable crimes, along with forced abortion and forced sterilisation, have been committed against women. Children are separated from their parents and pressured to renounce their Uyghur heritage," he said while mentioning the human rights against Tibetans and the residents of Hong Kong.
The US senator said a refusal by IOC sponsors to join the fight against communist China would be tantamount to supporting genocide.
Earlier this month, former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had said that permitting China to host next year's Winter Olympics would give Beijing a credibility boost similar to what was enjoyed by Nazi Germany after the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin.
"Well, what has happened in the 1930s is happening in western China today. There are eerie similarities between the two, and hosting the Olympic Games -- as the Germans were able to do in 1936 -- gave great credibility to that regime," Pompeo had said in a program on Fox News.
The Winter Olympics in 2022 is slated to be held between February 4 and 20 in Beijing.
( With inputs from ANI )
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