A staff member holds a safety lantern of the Olympic flame for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, during a ceremony of the flame exhibition tour at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in Beijing, China December 9, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
December 9, 2021
PARIS (Reuters) – France will not boycott the Beijing Olympics, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Thursday.
“As for a diplomatic boycott … France will not do it … Sports is a world in itself, which must be protected from political interference, otherwise … we can end up by killing the competition,” Blanquer said on BFM TV.
He said violations of human rights in China must be condemned, but added that Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu would attend the Beijing Olympics. Paris is due to host the summer Games in 2024.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Editing by GV De Clercq and Alison Williams)
Source: One America News Network
