WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for the Washington Examiner about his demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) move the 2022 Olympic Games out of Communist China and rebid it to a country that respects human rights, especially considering China’s role in the spread of the Coronavirus.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “For two-and-a-half weeks every two years, the world stops and watches. The Olympic Games give us an opportunity to cheer for our country and our favorite athletes, and for a short time, our political and geopolitical differences fade into the background as we celebrate athletic talent and our shared values.

…

How, then, does the IOC justify allowing communist China to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, an event meant to promote a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity? The communist government is denying basic rights to the people of Hong Kong, cracking down on protesters, journalists, and dissidents, holding 1 million Uighurs in concentration camps because of their religion, and continuing to lie about the spread of the coronavirus.

…

And now, in the last few months, the world has been faced with the scourge of the coronavirus, a global pandemic that, while not entirely preventable, has done considerably more damage to the world economy and public health because of communist China’s unwillingness to be open, honest, and transparent.

China lied, and thousands of people died.

…

The IOC has an obligation to create an environment where athletes feel safe to compete. And we all have an obligation to use one of the world’s biggest stages to speak out when host countries do not create a safe environment for their own people.

Last month, I introduced a resolution with Sen. Ed Markey and a bipartisan coalition of our colleagues that gives China a choice: Clean up its human rights abuses, or have the IOC take the 2022 games out of China and rebid them to a country that values and respects human rights. The role communist China played in the spread of the coronavirus has only strengthened our case.

I stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong, the historically persecuted people of Tibet, peaceful communities of Chinese Muslims including Uighurs, Falun Gong, and the journalists and political dissidents in China.

I hope every freedom-loving country joins us in demanding that the IOC rebid the 2022 Olympic Games should China fail to abandon its indefensible course.”

Read the full op-ed in the Washington Examiner HERE.

###