Nearly Half of Americans Approve of Biden’s Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics: Poll

A placard with barbed wire forming the Olympics Rings is seen below a sign of the Olympics Museum during a protest organized by Tibetan and Uyghur activists against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 23, 2021. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Nearly half of American adults support the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, although nine in ten respondents admitted they’re unfamiliar with the specifics, according to a recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center.

Roughly 46 percent of U.S. adults told Pew that they approve the diplomatic boycott, more than double the 22 percent who disapproved.

The diplomatic boycott, which is meant to highlight the communist regime’s human rights violations in Xinjiang, has bipartisan support. According to the poll, 50 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, as well as 45 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents, approve of the diplomatic boycott.

Under the diplomatic boycott, high-ranking U.S. officials will stay away from the Beijing Winter Olympics, but American athletes will attend the Feb. 4 opening ceremony and compete at the Games.

Previously, the United States held a full boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. However, the Biden administration’s action received little attention from the public.

Just 9 percent of respondents told Pew they had read a lot about the diplomatic boycott. Americans are largely unfamiliar with it—46 percent saying they heard a little, and 45 percent saying they’d heard “nothing at all.”

But public views toward the action are relatively positive. Among those who’d heard “a lot,” 69 percent supported the decision, with 47 percent saying they strongly approve of it. Three in five Americans who have heard “a little” about the decision agree with the boycott.

Half of those who have heard nothing about the boycott are unsure, while 26 percent approved, and 21 percent disapproved.

A woman holds a sign as activists rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, California on Nov. 3, 2021, calling for a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of concerns over China's human rights record. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Negative Views of Beijing Remain

Public views towards the Chinese regime remain negative, according to Pew.

Last year’s survey by Pew Research indicated that negative views towards the regime reached a record high, roughly 76 percent, in the United States.

The recent poll shows that just 9 percent of Americans consider the Chinese regime a partner, while 54 percent view Beijing as a competitor and 34 percent as an enemy.

The attitudes are deeply divided along partisan lines. Republicans (52 percent) are more likely to consider the Chinese regime an enemy than Democrats (22 percent).

Roughly 40 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents see Beijing as a competitor, and 6 percent consider it a partner.

Among Democrats, 67 percent say the regime is a competitor, and 10 percent view it as a partner.

Pew polled 5,128 adults in the United States from Jan. 10 to Jan. 17 and published its findings on Jan. 31.