Biden administration says will not send us officials to Olympics

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Biden administration says will not send us officials to Olympics

The administration won't send U.S. officials to attend a diplomatic boycott that caused immediate criticism from China.

An announcement of the U.S. boycott is planned for this week, an administration official said Monday.

The decision to withhold official U.S. representation at the Olympics was made several weeks ago, but administration officials waited to make the announcement to allow time to pass after a phone call between President Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last month to calm tense relations, according to advisers to the administration.

While a boycott would keep U.S. officials from attending the games, the move wouldn't affect participation by athletes.

The U.S. decision is likely to influence other governments into following suit, and reports that the U.S. announcement was imminent and brought condemnation from Beijing, which accused Washington of grandstanding.

This tarnishes the spirit of the Olympic Charter, according to spokesman Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. It is a naked political provocation, and more, a serious offense to 1.4 billion Chinese people. Biden said last month that the U.S. government was considering a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics.