The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has been hit by a flurry of diplomatic boycotts from countries including the US, Australia, and Britain.
These countries have accused the Chinese government of widespread atrocities against the Uyghur community in its North-Western region of Xinjiang.
China denies this, saying its network of detention camps there is for “re-education” of the Uyghurs and other Muslims.
China has accused the US of using the Games for political manipulation and vowed “resolute counter-measures”.
Human rights groups have accused China of genocide in Xinjiang and crackdown on political freedoms and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The Western governments have stopped-short of a full boycott as their athletes will be participating in the games.
Western governments opine that sending an official delegation to the games will amount to tacit approval of the oppressive government of Xi Jinping.
Not all major countries have supported the US as India, Italy and France have declined to join the diplomatic boycott.
A coalition of Tibetan, Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese rights have welcomed the diplomatic boycotts.
But many campaigners feel diplomatic boycotts do not go far enough, as the athletes, corporate sponsors and major broadcasters are taking part in the games.
Experts opine that a full boycott seems very unfair to professional athletes who have spent years preparing for such an opportunity.
They say that earlier instances of boycotts like that of the Cold War boycotts of the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984 had minimal political impact.
Further, experts say that participating in the games provides an opportunity for sporting diplomacy and international scrutiny, both of which can result in positive change.
Sourabh Shetty 
Parag Gilada 
Viswapramod C