UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, his spokesman said on Thursday, after the United States announced a diplomatic boycott and several other Western nations followed suit.
“The secretary-general received an invitation from the International Olympic Committee to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Games and he has accepted it,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
The US said its athletes would still compete, but that it would not send a diplomatic delegation in a protest against rights abuses by China. Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada also announced diplomatic boycotts.
France for its part said it has no plans to join the boycott, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday, calling such a move “insignificant”.
