TOKYO, Dec. 24 (Reuters) – Japan said on Friday it would not send a government delegation to the Beijing Olympics due in February, a move touted as independent of the US boycott of the event. but even to fuel tensions with China.
Washington said earlier this month that no US diplomatic delegation would visit Beijing to protest the humanitarian situation in China, especially in the Xinjiang region. Some allies of the United States have taken a similar decision.
This boycott turned out to be a new thorny issue for Japan, a major ally of the United States which also has important economic ties with China.
Speaking at a press briefing, the secretary general of the Japanese government, Hirokazu Matsuno, said that no government delegation would go to the Beijing Olympics.
He added that Tokyo would send representatives directly to the Olympic movement – the director of the organizing committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the chairman of the Japanese Olympic committee, among others.
Japan has taken a less firm stance than the United States on the human rights situation in China.
According to public television NHK, voices are being heard more and more within the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) in power for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to be firmer vis – à – vis Beijing. (Report David Dolan and Daniel Leussink; French version Jean Terzian)