German chancellor won’t go to Winter Olympics in Beijing

Berlin (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he has no intention to travel to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, ending speculation about his plans two days before the Games start.

“I have no travel plans. You can’t assume that I’ll suddenly show up and say: ‘Hello, here I am,'” Scholz said in an interview on broadcaster ZDF late Wednesday.

Scholz had left questions about visiting the Olympics unanswered for weeks, even as other Western countries joined a US-led diplomatic boycott of the competition in regards to human rights concerns.

Earlier, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said he was not able to say whether any official representative of the German government would attend the opening ceremony on Friday.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic boycotts against the Beijing Games since the United States announced in December that its officials were staying away, even though its athletes are attending.

The US cited China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” referring to the crackdown on the Uighur population and other ethnic and religious minority groups in the western region.

Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Denmark and the Netherlands have joined in, among others, but Germany has remained more circumspect in its position.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in December that they would not travel to Beijing, but described it as personal decision that had nothing to do with the government’s position.

Japan is not sending a government delegation, but does not call it a diplomatic boycott. South Korea’s government will be represented at the Games by Hwang Hee, minister of culture, sports and tourism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, the heads of state of Poland, Serbia, Egypt, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, are among those expected at the opening ceremony.