Coalition MPs push Olympics boycott over missing tennis star

Everyone from our own government to US President Joe Biden is considering a diplomatic boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Olympics.

A growing global push for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games is causing Chinese officials to downplay expectations of large delegations on account of the pandemic.

On Tuesday China’s ambassador to Cuba, Ma Hui, tweeted that “given the pandemic, China has no plan to invite a large number of foreign dignitaries to attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics … so the so-called ‘diplomatic boycott’ is a hoax!”

The diplomat’s statement comes amid increasing discussion of whether Australia should engage in what some have a called a “light” boycott of the games, with athletes allowed to compete but government officials and politicians staying home.

Chinese politician Zhang Gaoli (R) has been accused by tennis champion Peng Shuai of forcing her to have sex during a long-term relationship. Picture: AFP

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Picture: AFP

At a party room meeting Tuesday Coalition MPs raised the treatment of tennis star Peng Shuai, who was the subject of a bizarre disappearance after she accused a senior Chinese official of rape, to build the case for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

One MP is understood to have pointed out that Ms Peng’s case, which showed the nature of the Chinese regime’s brutal power politics to the world, is not unique.

The MP told colleagues that “the reality is that hundreds of thousands of Chinese disappear every year – Buddhists, Uighurs, Christians, Tibetans” and said that while Coalition members understood the complexities of the issue the government should consider its next steps, perhaps in conjunction with the US, UK, and EU.

China’s Winter Olympics in February face a boycott. Picture: AFP

While any boycott would not be the sort of hard boycott imposed on 1980’s Moscow Olympics in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, US president Joe Biden is also understood to be considering Washington’s position on the Games.

“That is something we are considering,” Mr Biden told reporters ahead of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada last Thursday.

Ms Peng disappeared from public view for two weeks earlier this month after she posted a 1,500 character social media post detailing an affair with and eventual assault at the hands of Chinese politician Zhang Gaoli.

She only emerged from seclusion recently in a series of highly choreographed videos but world tennis officials and human rights agencies are concerned about her safety and ability to speak freely.