Boycott Diplomacy

In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team traveled to Beijing for a series of exhibition matches against the Chinese National Team.  They became the first Westerners to set foot in China since 1949.  Forrest Gump told John Lennon all about it on The Dick Gavitt Show.  The Chinese team then visited Washington in 1972.  Without question, ping pong diplomacy paved the way for the normalization of relations between the United States and China.

Then, in 1984, when the Soviets led a revenge boycott of the LA Olympics, one notable country was there.  China returned to the Olympics after a 32-year absence and received a standing ovation at the Opening Ceremony.  The first gold medal of the Games went to a Chinese shooter, and Li Ning became a star, winning six medals.

Fast forward to 2021 and U.S.-China relations are very different.  They're acknowledged as the world's two superpowers, with vastly different viewpoints on numerous issues.  And, of course, a very high-profile Olympic rivalry.

With Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics in February, the Biden Administration was under immense pressure to take some sort of stand about China's treatment of Uyghurs that has been described by many in the West as "genocide."  There were even calls for the U.S. to boycott the Games, which, frankly, was just a stupid suggestion that wouldn't solve anything and would only punish U.S. athletes who'd been training hard for the last four years for absolutely no reason.  For that reason, President Biden said that a full boycott wasn't even on the table.  He didn't rule out a diplomatic boycott, however.

Earlier this week, Biden announced that the U.S. would indeed enact a "diplomatic boycott" of the 2022 Olympics.  The U.S. will send a full team to Beijing, but no government officials will attend.  It quickly became a diplomatic boycott by the entire English-speaking world, with Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand among the nations joining (although, it should be noted, New Zealand had already said it nobody would be going before the American announcement because of the country's COVID quarantine rules).

China, predictably, was not happy.  They vowed that the U.S. "will pay" and pointed out that no government officials from those nations had been invited to the Olympics, so, they reasoned that you can't technically "boycott" something you weren't invited to in the first place.  The IOC, for its part, is staying out of it (which is the only position it can take), saying that "the presence of government officials and diplomats is a purely political decision for each government."

What exactly is the diplomatic boycott meant to accomplish?  Frankly, I have no idea!  If the goal was to piss off China, good job!  But if the goal is to get China to change its approach to something more along the lines of what the West considers "acceptable," that ain't happenin'!  In fact, it'll accomplish the exact opposite.  China will just dig its heels in even further.

And, frankly, will anyone even notice?  Team USA will still be there.  They'll still be wearing red, white and blue, and the American flag will still be raised at medals ceremonies.  And NBC will still have hours of coverage (with a small break for the Super Bowl).  It'll, of course, be mentioned during the Opening Ceremony, but will the "diplomatic boycott" even be brought up at any other point?

Some people like to criticize the IOC for their handling of this entire situation, but the IOC doesn't have much of a choice other than to stay out of it.  The United States and China are two of the most important nations in the entire Olympic Movement.  Getting involved would've been taken as choosing one side over the other.  And that's the last thing the IOC wants to do.  So instead they'll do nothing and maintain their neutrality.  Which is really their only option.

The IOC has stressed over and over again that it's not a political organization or government.  Its job is to put on the Olympic Games, and awarding the Games to a particular country doesn't mean they necessarily agree with that country's government or policies.  Plenty of people are critical of that stance, and rightfully so, but the point remains.  They aren't responsible for the actions of the government in the host country and they aren't just gonna pick up and move an Olympics (with less than a year to go!) because some people disagree with the way something's being handled in that nation.  (Whether that's right or wrong is an entirely different debate.)

Everyone agrees that the 1980 boycott did nothing.  Well, nothing except water down the Olympics and rob an entire generation of American athletes of their opportunity.  The Soviets didn't withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, cleaned up in the medal count (along with East Germany) and countered with a boycott of their own in 1984.

Likewise, this boycott isn't going to improve U.S.-China relations.  It's more likely that things will become more tense, at least in the short term.  Although, it's also possible that there will be longer-lasting implications, as well.  Either way, the diplomatic boycott may appease those in the West who want to "send China a message," but that's really it.  And, considering the anticipated Chinese response, will it even be worth it? 

I'd like to say that at least the American athletes won't feel the affects of the boycott, but I'm not even sure that's true.  Don't forget, the only spectators allowed are those who live in China.  So you can expect an entirely Chinese crowd to have an extremely negative reaction towards Team USA.  The boos won't just be heard at the Opening Ceremony, either.  They'll likely follow the Americans wherever they go for the duration of the Games.

Those who wanted the U.S. to "do something" in response to China's human rights record are probably very happy about the diplomatic boycott.  They got exactly what they wanted.  But at what cost?  Because a "diplomatic boycott" may sound great in theory, but will have little-to-no impact on the Olympics themselves.  Which I guess is a good thing.  Since it means the American athletes will only have to deal with some booing.  They won't have to miss out on their Olympic opportunity, which is something the 1980 team can never get back!