Winter Olympics Photo:VCG

The Chinese side has received the visa applications from relevant US personnel to attend the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, confirmed on Monday.

Earlier, the US side, driven by political manipulation, directed and staged a farce of not sending a diplomatic or official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics even though no invitation had been extended, Zhao said at a routine press conference on Monday. 

"Now with regard to the US request to send a team of government officials to China and their visa applications, the Chinese side will handle them in accordance with international customary practice, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity," Zhao noted.

Once again we urge the US to follow the Olympic spirit in practice, refrain from politicizing sports and stop erroneous words and acts that disrupt or undermine the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhao remarked.?? 

Media reported that the US government recently submitted visa applications with 18 officials on the list to attend the Winter Games in Beijing, aiming to provide security and medical support for their athletes. Forty more officials are likely to submit applications later. 

The Global Times learned previously that as the host country of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China never planned to invite US and Western politicians who have hyped the "boycott" topic to attend the Games, and experts said that their so-called boycott is nothing but self-deception.

The Biden administration has been trying hard to woo allies to join its camp to conduct a so-called joint boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, to fan up groundless human rights attacks on China. 

Despite some of the most loyal US followers like the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan, the US efforts have been met with limited success, The Hill reported. South Korea, China's East Asian neighbor, and Italy, a European country with close China ties, are among those who oppose the US proposal.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday that the Biden administration took the lead in fooling hardcore US followers in not sending government officials to Beijing for the Games.
After they followed suit in making similar announcements, the US took a sharp turn therefore this behavior is a slap in the face and will catch US allies off guard.