(PresidentialInsider.com)- The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place in Beijing, and former Vice President Mike Pence is calling on the Biden Administration to oppose the decision due to China’s abysmal record on human rights and its ongoing cover-up of its involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, Pence argued that the President must make a “clear and unequivocal demand” that the Olympic Committee move the 2022 games out of Beijing unless “China comes clean” about the origins of COVID-19 and “immediately ends” its persecution of the Muslim Uyghurs.
Back in April, after a State Department spokesman suggested a boycott of the Beijing games could be discussed, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the US was not considering such an action.
In his speech at Heritage, Pence said that the Olympic Committee should only choose host countries who “respect fundamental human rights and the well-being of mankind.”
Pence also hammered the Biden Administration for not being tough enough on China. Pence urged the Biden Administration to implement a number of steps to strengthen its position – including halting all US funding into scientific research in China as well as taking steps to accelerate efforts to “decouple” the US economy from China in order to both protect US interests and to improve domestic supply chains.
Pence’s position on the Beijing Olympics differs slightly from his former boss President Donald Trump. In a recent interview former President Trump dismissed the notion of boycotting the Beijing Winter games saying that it would be unfair to the athletes who worked so hard to get there.
However, a number of prominent conservatives continue to urge the Biden Administration to either boycott the Beijing Olympics or urge the Committee to relocate the event elsewhere. Like Pence, China’s human rights violations – both among the Uyghurs and within Hong Kong – is the primary reason conservatives cite for depriving Beijing of the Olympic games.
