There is a good chance that there will be fewer cheering bobos in the picture than at previous Olympics, and that is not only due to strict entry rules due to corona. Seventeen countries do not send government officials to Beijing. The human rights violations, especially the treatment of the Uyghurs, are grounds for a ‘diplomatic boycott’ for many countries. Others don’t want to call it that, but also leave the officials at home. How did boycotts go at previous Games?
A striking difference is that in previous boycotts of the Games, the athletes also stayed at home. China did not attend the Summer Games from 1956 to 1980 in protest against Taiwan’s participation. In 1980, negotiations over the participation of China and Taiwan led to the only boycott of the Winter Games to date. Taiwan wasn’t there in Lake Placid, China was. After that, Taiwan decided to participate under the name ‘Chinese Taipei’, after which China has attended all subsequent Games.
In addition to the boycott of China, other countries also decided to boycott the Australian Games in 1956, for a different reason. They were not angry with the host country, but incensed about two international crises. The Soviet Union had invaded Hungary in that year, after which the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain decided not to participate. “Leave all Olympic Village stop Find shelter elsewhere,” it read telegram that the Dutch athletes received from the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC), which ended with: ‘Strength. Sorry.’ An incomprehensible decision according to many Dutch participants, especially because Hungary itself did participate. Due to the Suez crisis, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon did not send participants.
In 1964, three countries were left out because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to admit athletes who had competed in the competitive emerging countries Games of then Indonesian President Sukarno. After the Munich Massacre in 1972, when eleven members of the Israeli squad were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, Israel, Egypt, Algeria, the Philippines and members of the Norwegian, Dutch and American teams left the Games.
The 1976 Olympic boycott arose out of the general anti-apartheid boycott. For years, South Africa was banned from participating in international tournaments. The New Zealand rugby team toured South Africa anyway. When the IOC refused to punish New Zealand to the exclusion of the Games, more than thirty mainly African countries decided to boycott the Games in Montreal.
The biggest boycott was yet to come. At the end of 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Just like in 2022, the United States took the lead – in the end, 66 countries missed the Summer Games altogether in 1980. Some of the Dutch athletes also boycotted these Games. The protests did not move the Soviet Union to withdraw soldiers, who remained in Afghanistan until the late 1980s. In response to the events of 1980, the 1984 Los Angeles Games were boycotted by the Soviet Union and 19 other countries.
The IOC grew tired of the boycotts. Due to a lot of consultation, four years later in Seoul, South Korea, it was possible to prevent a repeat. Only seven countries were absent from those Games, partly because North Korea was not allowed to co-host, and partly for financial reasons. As far as Olympic boycotts are concerned, more than thirty quiet years followed. Also in 2022 there will be no less athletes on the ice or the slopes due to the boycott.
The United States called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games in early December. Following on from this, sixteen other countries also decided not to send officials, ten of which called this a ‘diplomatic boycott’.
The Netherlands, like Japan, Sweden and Austria, emphatically does not want to speak of a boycott. King Willem-Alexander will not go there because no Dutch spectators are allowed to be present. Dutch diplomats stay at home because no consultations about human rights are possible due to the strict corona rules.