SWEDEN will not send any government representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s sports minister said today.

“This is not a diplomatic boycott,” sports minister Anders Ygeman told Swedish news agency TT.

The Games are scheduled to take place between February 4 and 20, but few world leaders are expected to attend in person due to China’s strict entry restrictions for foreigners during the pandemic.

Two notable exceptions are Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Contrary to Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia and Britain have all decided to boycott the Games to protest against China’s alleged human rights violations, particularly in the Xinjiang region. – AFP, January 11, 2022.