China warns of "robust" response if U.S. boycotts Beijing Olympics
07 April 2021
The Chinese government on Wednesday warned the U.S. that it would respond strongly if Washington boycott's next year's Winter Olympics set to be held in Beijing, AP reports.
Driving the news: The message comes after a State Department spokesman said at a briefing Tuesday that a joint boycott by the U.S. and its allies "is something that we certainly wish to discuss," in response to a question about how to punish China for what observers have described as a genocide against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
- "[W]hat the United States does is meaningful, what the United States does will have impact," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday.
- A State Department official later walked the comments back, insisting that "we have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian denied abuses against the region's Uyghur population, and promised a “robust Chinese response” against a potential boycott.
- “The politicization of sports will damage the spirit of the Olympic Charter and the interests of athletes from all countries,” Zhao said. “The international community including the U.S. Olympic Committee will not accept it.”
Go deeper:New geopolitical fears surround 2022 Beijing Olympics
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.