Rep. Michael T. McCaul has launched an ad campaign highlighting abuses carried out by the Chinese Communist Party set to run alongside coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
The Texas lawmaker who serves as the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the GOP’s China Task Force has been critical of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow Beijing to host the games.
He said China will use the Olympics to “whitewash their genocide, military aggression and oppression of their own people.”
“We will not turn a blind eye to their slave labor,” Mr. McCaul said in a statement. “We will cheer for team USA — while we also condemn the morally reprehensible actions of the CCP and the IOC.”
Mr. McCaul was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who urged the IOC to move Olympics over the declared genocide and crimes against humanity carried out by the government against Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.
“The Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide against their own people,” Mr. McCaul said in the ad released by his campaign Friday. “They are threatening military aggression against America and our allies. And they continue to cover up the origins of COVID-19.”
“Now they want us to watch the Olympics and forget their crimes,” he said.
🚨New Ad🚨Team McCaul releases ad calling out CCPs human rights abuses. pic.twitter.com/7cRqUgmKOo
— Team McCaul (@McCaulforTexas) February 4, 2022
President Biden imposed a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in Beijing citing “the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” While a few other countries joined in the diplomatic boycott, other prominent U.S. allies such as South Korea turned down the request.
Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans led by Mr. McCaul raised alarms about the safety of U.S. athletes in Beijing and called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to brief the athletes on China’s human rights abuses.
In a letter to Mr. Blinken, the lawmakers said the athletes could be in jeopardy if they speak out about China’s human rights record.
On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed similar concern. “I do not encourage them to speak out against the Chinese government there, because I fear for their safety if they do,” the California Democrat said. “I hope they are safe athletically, politically and every other way.”
In the advertisement, Mr. McCaul calls on viewers to “support athletes without handing Communists a propaganda victory.”
“It’s important the American people stand up and in one united voice say that we will not turn a blind eye to the CCP’s genocide,” he said in a statement.
The ad will run in the Austin, Texas and Washington markets and online.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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