UK and Canada join planned diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

The United Kingdom and Canada have become the latest countries to join a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Wednesday that government ministers would not attend the games over human rights concerns.

Johnson told MPs that he opposed boycotts involving athletes, but that Britain would "effectively" be boycotting the Olympics by not sending senior officials.

“There will be effectively a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing," he said, "no ministers are expected to attend and no officials."

"The government has no hesitation in raising these issues with China, as I did with President Xi the last time I talked to him," he added.

The UK and Canada now join the United States, Australia, and Lithuania in the diplomatic boycott.

China has remained unconcerned by the decisions and has dismissed the planned boycott as a "farce".

The White House had confirmed on Monday that its officials would be absent from the upcoming Winter Olympics -- scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February 2022.

New Zealand said it informed Beijing earlier that it wouldn’t be sending any officials due to pandemic travel restrictions but had also communicated its human rights concerns.

Western governments have long criticized Beijing for human rights abuses against its Uyghur minority in northwest Xinjiang province and suppression of democratic protests in Hong Kong.

On Thursday, an independent UK body concluded that the Chinese government has committed genocide and crimes against humanity on the Uyghur people.

Some rights groups have called for a total boycott -- including athletes -- of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The new German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has called for