Open letter to G20 ahead of G20 Summit on 30-31 October 2021

To H.E. Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy in the capacity as president of the G20

RE: Joint diplomatic boycott action of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

We, a coalition of over 240 global campaign groups representing Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers, Chinese, Southern Mongolians, Taiwanese, and other affected and concerned communities. We are writing to you, ahead of the G20 Summit concerning the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, to urge for a joint diplomatic boycott of the Games in light of China’s extreme and worsening human rights situation.

The attendance of world leaders and diplomats at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will put governments at serious risk of being complicit in China’s plan to ‘sport wash’ their human rights abuses and embolden the actions of the Chinese authorities.

As you descend on the G20 Summit we urge you to take the opportunity to commit to taking strong multilateral action by way of a joint diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
The Chinese government has publicly stated that Beijing 2022 will be “open and inclusive”, create a “harmonious world” and promote “social progress” – just as it did ahead of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, but to no avail. For those living under China’s oppressive rule, daily life is anything but; it is instead characterized by a merciless crackdown on individual and collective rights and freedom, an all-out assault on cultural diversity, and a tearing apart of community cohesion through sophisticated methods of surveillance and control.

The Uyghur people are facing active genocide, with at least two million Muslims – including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks – locked in “re-education camps” undergoing systematic torture and political re-education. The situation in occupied Tibet has dramatically deteriorated and in 2021 it was ranked by Freedom House as the least free place in the world for civil and political rights, alongside Syria. In Hong Kong, where Beijing has implemented a draconian National Security Law that bans acts of “splittism, subversion, foreign intervention, and terrorism”, freedom and democracy are under attack, and youth activists are being rounded up and imprisoned en masse. In China, the Chinese authorities routinely disappear government critics, feminists, and academics, as they attempt to stifle all forms of peaceful dissent. At the same time, Beijing has intensified its decades-long tactics of bullying and military threats and intimidation of democratic Taiwan.

Much like in 2008, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has attempted to counter concerns about human rights abuses in China by asserting that the Games will positively affect China’s rights record. The IOC also pledged to take action should China fall short in meeting its human rights promises. Subsequent developments showed this faith to be misplaced as the Chinese government repeatedly backtracked on the human rights pledges it made to secure the right to host the Games and there was no accountability by the IOC and the international community. Instead, China was given a free pass to wantonly violate human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Given the failure of the IOC to provide any due diligence around the preparations for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, or evidence on how to manage the human rights risks connected to the Games – despite having multiple opportunities when Beijing 2022 progress reports were being conducted – it falls on governments to prove that the political will to stand up against China’s despicable human rights abuses is enacted.

We, therefore, call on like-minded governments to urgently commit to a joint multilateral diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022.

Yours sincerely

Mandie McKeown, Executive Director, International Tibet Network – on behalf of:

Dorjee Tseten, Students for a Free Tibet
Dolkun Isa, World Uyghur Congress
Frances Hui, We The Hongkongers
Teng Biao, China Against the Death Penalty
Rushan Abbas, Campaign for Uyghurs
Jenny Wang, Keep Taiwan Free
John Jones, Free Tibet
周锋锁 Zhou Fengsuo, Humanitarian China
Tashi Shitsetsang, Tibetan Youth Association Europe
Bhuchung Tsering, International Campaign for Tibet
Dr Zoe Bedford, Australia Tibet Council
Mattias Bjornerstedt, Swedish Tibet Committee
Lhadon Tethong, Tibet Action Institute
Omer Kanat, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Enghebatu Togochog
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Center

and the following organisations:
Action Free Hong Kong Montreal
Aide aux Refugies Tibetains
Alberta Uyghur Association
Amigos de Tibet, Colombia
Amigos del Tíbet, Chile
Amigos del Tíbet, El Salvador
Anterrashtriya Bharat – Tibbet Sahyog Samiti
AREF International Onlus
Asociación Cultural Peruano Tibetana
Asociación Cultural Tibetano Costarricense
Association Cognizance Tibet, North Carolina
Association Drôme Ardèche-Tibet
Associazione Italia-Tibet
Association of the New School for Democracy
Atlas Movement
Australia China Watch
Australian East Turkestan Association
Australian Uyghur Association
Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association
Austria Uyghur Association
Bath District Tibet Support Group
Bay Area Friends of Tibet
Belgium Uyghur Association
Bharrat Tibbat Sahyog Manch, India
Boston Tibet Network
Boston Uyghur Association
Briancon05 Urgence Tibet
Bristol Tibet
Burst the Bubble UK
Canada Tibet Committee
Canadian Coalition Against Communism
Captive Nations Coaltion
Casa del Tibet – Spain
Casa Tibet México
Centro De Cultura Tibetana, Brazil
China Alarm
Circle of Friends (Philippines)
Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Comité de Apoyo al Tibet (CAT)
Comité pour la Liberté à Hong-Kong
Committee of 100 for Tibet
Core Group for Tibetan Cause, India
Cornell Society for the Promotion of East Asian Liberty
Covenants Watch
Czechs Support Tibet
DC Chapter of China Democracy Party
DC4HK – Washingtonians Supporting Hong Kong
Defend Democracy
Dream for Children, Japan
Dutch Uyghur Human Rights Foundation
East Turkistan Association in Finland
East Turkistan Association of Canada
East Turkistan Education Center in Europe
East Turkistan New Generation Movement
East Turkistan Nuzugum Culture and Family Organization
East Turkistan Press and Media Organization
East Turkistan Union in Europe
Eastern Turkistan Foundation
Eastern Turkistan Uyghur Association in Netherlands
EcoTibet Ireland
Étudiants Pour Un Tibet Libre
Euro-Asia Foundation: Teklimakan Publishing House
European Uyghur Institute
Federation for a Democratic China
Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong
Foundation for Universal Responsibility of H. H. the Dalai Lama
France-Tibet
Free Indo-Pacific Alliance
Free Tibet Fukuoka
FREE TIBET ITALIA
Friends of Tibet in Costa Rica
Friends of Tibet in Finland
Friends of Tibet New Zealand
Friends4Tibet
Germany Stands with Hong Kong
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities
Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete, Portugal
Hong Kong Committee in Norway
HKDC
Hong Kong Affairs Association of Berkeley (HKAAB)
Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles
Hong Kong Liberty
Hong Kong Outlanders
Hong Kong Social Action Movements in Boston
Hong Kongers in San Francisco Bay Area
Human Rights Solidarity
Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan
Ilham Tohti Initiative
India Tibet Friendship Society
International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC)
Institute for China’s Democratic Transition
International Pen Uyghur Center
International Society for Human Rights- Sweden
International Society of Human Rights, Munich Chapter
International Support for Uyghurs
International Tibet Independence Movement
International Uyghur Human Right and Democracy Foundation
Isa Yusup Alptekin Foundation
Israeli Friends of the Tibetan People
Japan Association of Monks for Tibet (Super Sangha)
Japan Uyghur Association
Jewish movement for Uyghur freedom
Justice 4 Uyghurs
Justice For All Canada
Kazakhstan National Culture Center
Le Club Français, Paraguay
Les Amis du Tibet – Belgium
Les Amis du Tibet Luxembourg
Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine
Lions Des Neiges Mont Blanc, France
Lungta Association Belgium
Maison des Himalayas
Maison du Tibet – Tibet Info
Mavi Hilal Humanitarian Organization
McGill Hong Kong Public Awareness and Social Service
National Campaign for Tibetan Support, India
National Democratic Party of Tibet
Netherlands for Hong Kong
Never Again Right Now
Northern California Hong Kong Club
Norwegian Uyghur Committee
NY4HK
Objectif TibetPasseport Tibetain
Ontario Hong Kong Youth Action (OHKYA)
Perth Anti-CCP Association
Phagma Drolma-Arya Tara
Power to Hongkongers
RangZen:Movimento Tibete Livre, Brazil
Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts
Roof of the World Foundation, Indonesia
Sakya Trinley Ling
Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet
Save the Mongolian Language
Save the Persecuted Christians
Save Tibet Foundation
Save Tibet, Austria
Shukr Foundation
Sierra Friends of Tibet
Society for Threatened Peoples International
Society Union of Uyghur National Association
STAND Canada
Stand With Hong Kong Vienna
Stop Uyghur Genocide Canada
Students for a Free Tibet – Canada
Students for a Free Tibet – UK
Students for a Free Tibet – Denmark
Students for a Free Tibet – India
Students for a Free Tibet – Japan
Students for a Free Tibet – Taiwan
Sweden Uyghur Education Union
Swedish Tibet Committee
Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association (GSTF)
Switzerland East Turkestan Association
台灣永社 Taiwan Forever Association
Taiwan Friends of Tibet
Taiwan East Turkistan Association
Taiwan New Constitution Foundation
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Taiwan Labour Front
Tashi Delek Bordeaux
The Norwegian Tibet Committee
The Youth Liberation Front of Tibet, Mongolia and Turkestan
Tibet Action Group of Western Australia
Tibet cesky (Tibet in Czech)
Tibet Committee of Fairbanks
Tibet Group, Panama
Tibet Initiative Deutschland
Tibet Justice Center
Tibet Lives, India
Tibet Mx
Tíbet Patria Libre, Uruguay
Tibet Rescue Initiative in Africa
Tibet Society of South Africa
Tibet Support Committee Denmark
Tibet Support Group Adelaide
Tibet Support Group Kenya
Tibet Support Group Kiku, Japan
Tibet Support Group Netherlands
Tibet Support Group Slovenia
Tibetan Association of Germany
Tibetan Association of Ithaca
Tibetan Association of Northern California
Tibetan Association of Philadelphia
Tibetan Community Austria
Tibetan Community in Britain
Tibetan Community in Denmark
Tibetan Community in Ireland
Tibetan Community of Italy
Tibetan Community of Victoria
Tibetan Community Sweden
Tibetan Community, Queensland
Tibetan Cultural Association – Quebec
Tibetan Programme of The Other Space Foundation
Tibetan Women’s Association (Central)
Tibetans of Mixed Heritage
Tibetisches Zentrum Hamburg
TIBETmichigan
Toronto Association for Democracy in China
Torontonian HongKongers Action Group
U.S. Tibet Committee
Uigur Society of the Kyrgyz Republic
Umer Uyghur Trust
United Nations for a Free Tibet (UNFFT)
US Hongkongers Club
Uyghur Academy
Uyghur American Association
Uyghur Association of Victoria
Uyghur Association of France
Uyghur Center for Human Rights and Democracy
Uyghur Cultural and Education Union in Germany
Uyghur Education Union
Uyghur Projects Foundation
Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund
Uyghur Research Institute
Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
Uyghur Support Group Netherlands
Uyghur Transitional Justice Database
Uyghur U.K. Association
Uyghur Youth Union in Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan Uyghur Culture Center
Vancouver Hong Kong Forum Society
Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement
Viktoria Uyghur Association
Voces Tibet
World Uyghur Congress Foundation