The group is not trying to prevent Japanese athletes from taking part, but rather to make sure that no government delegation is sent for fear that it would send the wrong message.
Sending a delegation of Japanese officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics would send the wrong signal to the international community because that would be equivalent to condoning human rights oppression by China, said Shigeharu Aoyama, an Upper House member who heads the group that seeks to protect Japan's dignity and national interests. He spoke at a news conference on December 3 after a group meeting.
The group intends to submit a formal request for a diplomatic boycott to Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Both the US and British governments are considering diplomatic boycotts to protest Beijing's human rights abuses against the Uighur ethnic minority as well as its recent clampdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.
The Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at his Dec. 3 news conference that while we will make a decision at the appropriate time, no decision has been made as of now. A senior Foreign Ministry official said we still haven't decided what is meant by the diplomatic boycott being considered by Washington. Only after the United States has made its move, a decision will likely be made.