'We'll be prepared,' U.S. envoy to Canada says of any Chinese retaliation to Olympic diplomatic boycott

U.S. and Canada 'prepared' for boycott backlash U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen discusses the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympic that's been announced by several nations.

The new U.S. envoy to Canada David Cohen says the U.S. and its allies will be prepared to respond to any future Chinese retaliation to the recently announced diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.

In a broadcast exclusive on CTV News Channel’s Power Play with Evan Solomon on Thursday, Cohen said no matter the issue, both countries are better served when they’re aligned in their response, the boycott being the latest example of that.

“I wouldn’t expect anything different from China than to threaten retaliation. I don’t want to put myself in a position of trying to predict what a player like Beijing might do in response to what the United States and Canada have done, and now joined by many other countries, but we’ll be prepared to deal with it,” he said.

The U.S. announced on Monday it would choose not to send government officials to Beijing to protest reported human rights abuses of the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.

Athletes will still attend.

Canada, the U.K., and Australia have since followed suit.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that the government remains “extremely concerned” by human rights violations conducted by the Chinese government.

“That is why we are announcing today that we will not be sending any diplomatic representation to the Beijing Olympic, Paralympic Games this winter,” Trudeau said.

“Our athletes have been training for years and are looking forward to compete at the highest level against athletes from around the world. They will continue to have all of our fullest support.”

Cohen said he predicts more countries will sign on to the boycott pact, as it’s created a “permission structure” for other democratic countries to take action without jeopardizing the fate of athletes.

“It enables the athletes to go forward, the Olympic Games to go forward, but for Beijing not to enjoy the unfettered glory of hosting the Olympics,” he said.

Typically, for Olympic and Paralympic Games, dignitaries such as the head of state, the head of government, the sport minister and the minister responsible for persons with disabilities would typically be invited to attend, a Heritage Canada official told CTVNews.ca in an email.

Many former diplomats and international security analysts have suggested Canada should go further and enforce a full boycott, withdrawing all Canadian presence, including athletes.

China has come out and accused the U.S. of violating the Olympic spirit and attempting to interfere with the Games "out of ideological prejudice and based on lies and rumors," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters on Tuesday.

The boycott "seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto `more united,"' Zhao said.

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin dismissed the decision by Canada and others to follow Washington's lead as a “farce.”

In February, MPs in the House of Commons voted to label China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslims a genocide, and to call on the federal government to formally adopt that position.

Trudeau did not participate in the vote. Then-foreign affairs minister Marc Garneau abstained on the record while the rest of his cabinet colleagues were absent.

Making these decisions more calculated is the looming question of whether Canada will formally ban China’s Huawei Technologies from providing equipment for the rollout of its 5G network as the U.S. and other allies have done.

Asked whether Canada should once and for all prohibit the use of the technology, Cohen said he respects that Canada is its own sovereign nation and makes its decision accordingly.

“I can state the fact that United States has governmentally banned the use of Huawei equipment in 5G and other critical infrastructure networks in the United States and that decision was made on the basis that the United States believes that Huawei technology in those networks did pose a threat to national security,” he said.

“The prime minister has been quite clear it’s a matter of active consideration in Canada…I want to respect our partnership and I wasn’t to respect the sovereignty of Canada.”

With a file from The Associated Press.