Reschenthaler, Waltz Lead Roundtable Discussion on China’s Human Rights Abuses, Beijing Olympics Boycott Movement
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressmen Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) and Mike Waltz (FL-06) led a roundtable discussion on the human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the movement to boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. They were joined by former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), and members of eight human rights organizations.
"By participating in the Beijing games, the U.S. would be legitimizing the CCP, a regime currently committing genocide, oppression, and heinous human rights violations," said Reschenthaler. "It was an honor to join Speaker Gingrich, former U.N. Ambassador Haley, and my colleagues, Congressmen Waltz and Malinowski, to discuss the movement to boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and critical efforts to counter China's human rights abuses and malign behavior. The United States must stand up for freedom and democracy around the world."
Since Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, the CCP has escalated its authoritarianism and expanded its malign behavior around the globe. As many as one million Uyghurs and religious and ethnic minorities are being held against their will in concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. These people are subjected to atrocities including forced labor, torture, organ harvesting, and forced abortions and sterilization.
Additionally, the CCP continues to persecute the Tibetan people and restrict their fundamental rights, such as religious freedom, speech, and assembly. Last summer, China passed a national security law restricting Hong Kongers basic political rights and authorizing severe punishments for anyone found guilty of vague crimes. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP silenced, and in some instances disappeared, doctors and scientists that dared to speak out about the coverup and lethality of the virus.
Earlier this year, Congressmen Guy Reschenthaler and Michael Waltz, and the lead Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security, John Katko (NY-24), introduced a resolution urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to rebid the 2022 Winter Olympics currently set to occur in Beijing, China. If the Games are not moved, the legislation calls for the United States to lead an international boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
"The CCP's human rights abuses and malicious behavior around the globe cannot go unanswered. We must stand with Uyghurs, the Hong Kongers, the Tibetans, and the democratic people of Taiwan by supporting a change of venue for the 2022 Olympic Games and boycotting the games should they remain in China," said Reschenthaler.
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