Never Again! An international call from citizens around the world to our governments to boycott Beijing and move the 2022 Winter Games from China with or without the IOC.

We, the undersigned, are citizens from around the world who are appalled by the despicable atrocities committed by the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Under the oppressive regime, the Tibetan language, culture and religion have been decimated. The genocide in East Turkistan (aka Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), rape and sexual torture in the concentration camps, forced labour of ethnic minorities and forced separation of Uyghur families are ongoing. The Sino-British Joint Declaration, a legally binding international agreement, has been blatantly breached with the total annihilation of Hong Kong’s autonomy, rule of law and citizens’ basic rights. Beijing’s behaviours are fundamentally against basic human decency and absolutely unconscionable. Many citizens and politicians have raised grave concerns with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), urging the IOC to rescind Beijing’s hosting rights for the 2022 Winter Olympics for violating the Olympic spirit as stated in the Olympic Charter. Unfortunately, those calls were ignored. We are, therefore, calling on our governments to boycott Beijing and co-operatively set up the Games outside the PRC with or without the IOC.

Most of our governments fund their countries’ Olympic programs with public money, and the athletes represent their nations at the Olympics. The Olympic Games is not just a private business. Citizens have a stake in it, and our elected governments have the responsibility and the power to act.

The Winter Games has far fewer sports than the Summer Games. We can split up the Games and hold the competitions over two or three former Winter Olympic host cities. Those cities, such as Canada’s Vancouver-Whistler, already have the necessary experience and existing infrastructure and facilities. There will be no major construction which also involves necessary but lengthy environmental assessments and bidding processes. Such cities won’t require years to get ready. The costs will be much lower and the potential financial gains from advertising and tourism much greater. If these new host cities need more time, the Games can be delayed by a year as Tokyo has done for the 2020 Summer Olympics due to COVID-19. We call on our governments to work together to find suitable cities to co-host a “Winter Games in the Free World”, in 2023 if necessary.

This “Winter Games in the Free world” welcomes all countries to participate, including China. It will focus on the athletes and their sports and be truthful to the Olympic spirit of respect for human dignity and ethical principles. If the IOC insists that Beijing host a 2022 Winter Olympics, then it will be an Olympics of the authoritarians. We should have nothing to do with it.

The top Winter Olympic medal winning countries are all democracies except for Russia. Olympians who compete in this “Winter Games in the Free World” will be competing with the best in the world but without guilt. They need not choose between their conscience and their love of sports. They need not self-censor for fear of visa denial or arbitrary detention like Canadian citizens Huseyin Celil, Michaels Kovrig and Spavor, and many others at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They need not subject themselves to Orwellian surveillance or risk biometric data being stolen when in Beijing. They need not become unwilling propaganda tools of the CCP, strengthening the regime’s international aggression and dictatorial grip on Tibetans, Uyghurs, Southern Mongolians, Hong Kongers, and Chinese people. The medals that they win will shine freely, without being tainted by the blood of genocide and the sweat of forced labour.

We’ve vowed, “Never again!” The free world must act immediately and decisively. Genocide victims cannot wait. We must sanction the perpetrators in China and in Hong Kong, ban imports of all Chinese products that use forced labour, bar Huawei and all Chinese high-tech companies involved in the surveillance system in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) from our 5G networks, and make organ transplant tourism to the PRC illegal. Moving the 2022 Winter Games out of China will send a strong and clear message to the CCP that we will not be complicit, and our Olympians will not be held hostage by Beijing or by the IOC – they will compete with pride, without guilt, in our free cities.

Initiating Organizations (in alphabetical order):

Canadian Friends of Hong Kong (CFHK)​

Students for a Free Tibet Canada (SFT Canada)​

Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP)​

Vancouver Uyghur Association (VUA)