Sports fans, volunteers and the public gather in front of the one-year countdown board of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and shout "2022, here we come" in co-host city Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province. The Winter Games organizer unveiled the designs of the Olympic torches on Thursday, just one year to go before the Games start. Photo: VCG

Former US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley demanded Washington boycott the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on Sunday. This makes her the latest Republican to urge a boycott of the Beijing event. Earlier this month, a group of US Republican senators introduced a resolution seeking to remove the Games from China, urging the International Olympics Committee to allow new bids so the Games can be, "hosted by a country that recognizes and respects human rights."

From a strategic perspective, some US politicians, especially the China hawks, do not want China-US relations to thaw or return to the normal track. They view China as the US' biggest rivalry, even an enemy. For those politicians, the China policy framework established by the Trump administration is correct, and what the US should adhere to. They believe that the US should continue to launch an all-round crackdown to prevent China's rise from challenging or threatening US hegemony. 

Before Joe Biden assumed power, many anti-China politicians in the US worried that the new president would reverse Trump's China policy. Many of Biden's remarks on China delivered after he took office have been considered not as tough as those made by Donald Trump. Therefore, they have been trying every possible means to exert pressure on Biden. They want to prevent Biden from adjusting US' China policy, or seeking a détente in relations with Beijing. 

In terms of domestic politics, calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics is actually a bargaining chip of the US partisan struggle. For Republicans, they must create as many opportunities as possible to cause trouble for Biden. 

Politicians normally have insatiable ambitions of power. Most of the China Hawks in the US either eye for the White House or want to go further in their political career. For instance, Haley is a potential presidential candidate for the 2024 election cycle. Rick Scott, who led the Republican resolution demanding that the IOC move the 2022 Olympic Games out of China, is also considered to harbor political ambitions that could lead to White House. 

Those politicians hope that they can receive huge media coverage and win political scores. But finding fault with China and making an issue of China-related affairs is viewed as a risk-free business that they can gain benefits from without suffering losses. 

Anti-China sentiments have been fanned during Trump's tenure. With pervasive negative views on China deeply seeded now, there will only be more suspicion and hostility toward China within the US. Therefore, it is not surprising to see some speculative politicians hope to pave the way for their political career by smearing China, which has become political correctness in the US today.  

Those calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics are accusing China of "horrific" human rights records. Their accusations, in fact, don't hold water. The achievements China has made with poverty eradication and free medical treatment for COVID-19 patients all indicate the protection of human rights. China's human rights improvements over the past years are impressive in other areas too. 

It's nonsense for the US and other Western politicians to accuse China of carrying out "genocide". As a matter of fact, some of them know well China's achievements in economic and social development, as well as effort for human rights protection. But they pretend not to know, playing up human rights cards to seek personal political gains. 

The Biden administration has yet to decide whether or not the US will boycott the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the White House said Thursday. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected calls to boycott the Games last week. Although some politicians in the US, and other Western countries such as the UK and Canada are clamoring for a boycott (at least for now and in the foreseeable future), it's unlikely that Biden will boycott the Games as part of his human rights card against China. Nor will Western countries likely band together to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympic Games as they did against the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. 

Biden is different from those abashed US politicians who do not need to take the responsibility. He, as president, has to carefully weigh what price the US will have to pay; or whether it is in line with US interests if he makes a decision to boycott. Should the US decide to boycott the Winter Olympics, the China-US relations will further seriously deteriorate or even totally break down. How can Washington fulfill its goals to tamp down COVID-19 pandemic, recover the economy and tackle challenges of climate change if China-US relations are screwed up?  

Nowadays, the situation is quite different from the Cold War era. Countries and governments today are generally making China policies based on rationality. They must carefully calculate gains and losses. Boycotting the Winter Olympics is merely meaningless noise for now. It's believed that the Biden administration and other Western governments won't make such reckless and willful decisions.

The article was compiled based on an interview with Xin Qiang, a deputy director of the Center for US Studies at Fudan University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn