UK representation at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Early day motion 149, tabled 7 June 2021 by Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative). Signed by 15 members.

That this House notes with concern that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will take place alongside a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghurs and other minority groups are subject to widespread forced labour, sterilization, political indoctrination and arbitrary detention; reaffirms its opinion that Uyghurs and other minority groups in the Uyghur Region are victims of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity; reminds the International Olympics Committee that the Olympic Charter’s principles of solidarity and non-discrimination are hard to reconcile with holding the 2022 Winter Games in a country whose Government stands credibly accused of perpetrating Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide; affirms that the International Olympic Committee’s desire to stay above politics does not permit turning a blind eye to mass atrocity crimes; urges the International Olympics Committee to initiate an emergency search process for suitable replacement facilities for the 2022 Winter Games; calls on the Government to decline invitations for state officials to attend the 2022 Winter Games so long as Beijing remains the host venue; advises the Government to discourage companies operating in the UK from acting as commercial sponsors for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics; recognises that individual athletes have the right to choose whether to participate in the Olympic Games or not and urges them to think carefully about whether they should take part; and encourages the Chinese Government to work with international partners to take verifiable steps to improve the human rights situation of Uyghurs and other persecuted groups.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 4, Liberal Democrat 3, Labour 2, Alba 1, Conservative 1, DUP 1, Green 1, Labour/Co-operative 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.