The Honorable Emmanuel Macron

President of the Republic of France

Elysee Palace

55 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré

75008 Paris, France

Dear President Macron:

Thank you for your continued efforts to expose the horrific human rights abuses in Communist China. In February, during his speech before the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced Communist China’s “system of large-scale surveillance and institutionalized repression” against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. In August, France decided against ratifying an extradition treaty with Hong Kong following Carrie Lam’s tyrannical move to suspend their election. In the midst of these human rights atrocities across Communist China, we must all stand up to dictators like General Secretary Xi, and I encourage France to join the U.S. in designating what is happening to the Uyghurs as genocide.

Further, I encourage you to join me in calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move the 2022 Olympics Games out of Beijing. Governments and international organizations have the ability and responsibility to address human rights concerns, and calling on the IOC to move the 2022 Olympics Games out of Beijing is the right course of action. To be clear, I do not support a boycott. Boycotting these games will only hurt athletes who have spent their lives training to represent their country on the international stage. Instead, it should be the position of all democratic nations that the IOC can and should move the 2022 Games to a nation that respects human rights.

I have introduced legislation in the United States Senate calling on the IOC to move the 2022 Games out of Beijing unless Communist China demonstrates significant progress in securing and protecting fundamental human rights. I have requested a meeting with President Biden to discuss the importance of his support on this critical issue and asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to advocate for this as well. Today, I am asking that you join me, the Canadian House of Commons and a number of global human rights organizations in this effort by urging the IOC to take immediate action.

The Olympic Games give the world’s best athletes a chance to represent their countries and unite our nations. However, this cannot be achieved if we ignore the grotesque abuses of Communist China and allow the games to be hosted in Beijing, putting the safety of all athletes and attendees at risk.

Working together, we can seize this opportunity to highlight our shared belief in freedom and democracy, while preserving the marvel that is and must always be so perfectly captured by the unity created by the Olympic Games.

Sincerely,

Rick Scott

United States Senator

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