China calls U.S. Olympic boycott 'pretentious' and 'political manipulation'

China's Washington embassy on Monday dismissed the U.S. announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics as "a pretentious act" and a "political manipulation" that would have no impact whatsoever on the successful holding of the Games.

"No invitation has been extended to U.S. politicians whatsoever, so this 'diplomatic boycott' simply comes out of nowhere," embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in an emailed response to a request for comment on the announcement.

"Such a pretentious act is only a political manipulation and a grave distortion of the spirit of the Olympic Charter. In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to be successfully held," he said.

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