Kishida: Japan will make own decision regarding Games

The Yomiuri Shimbun

December 7, 2021

Following the White House announcement that the United States will not send government officials to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday Japan would make its own decision regarding a possible diplomatic boycott of the Games.

“The significance of the Games and that of our nation’s diplomacy will be considered comprehensively,” Kishida told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference that Japan is “directly lobbying China through various levels regarding such issues as universal values of freedom, respect for basic human rights and the rule of law.”

Hayashi said that whether Beijing respects these values would be one of the criteria for Japan regarding any decision to boycott the Games.