By Cuinn Huber
In the lead up to the 2022 winter olympics in Beijing, China there has been a stir of justified controversy surrounding the government’s treatment of the Uyghur muslims. They have been putting them in concentration camps and are attempting to wipe out their population. As a result of this the United States has chosen to diplomatically boycott the games. This means the U.S. will still allow our athletes to go but any diplomatic representatives, such as ambassadors. While this is a big statement some people have called for us to do more. Some human rights activists are saying the U.S. should boycott the games entirely because of the supposed genocide China is abetting right now. Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics posted to his twitter account custom shoes that say “No Beijing 2022” as well as having dripping red paint symbolising the lives that are currently being lost in China. Other activists have dubbed the upcoming games the “genocide olympics,” This may sound like a hyperbole but it is what is going on. According to the UN more than one and a half million Muslims are in concentration camps in the communist regime. The Chinese goverment said they are “re education camps” meant to make them less “radical” but the reality is according to inmates at the camps that they are being tortured and raped. With the games less than two months away it will be very interesting to see how they play out in the midst of all the local human rights violations.