In light of tensions, Biden "looks" at boycotting the Winter Olympics in Beijing

US President Joe Biden said that his country is still considering a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in China, at a time when Beijing and Washington are experiencing tensions over issues including the origin of Corona, trade and competition rules, and the expansion of Beijing and Taiwan's nuclear arsenals.

US President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he is "considering" a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing."This is something we're looking at," Biden told reporters during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Beijing will host the 24th Winter Olympics in February.Biden's statement comes after his video summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping late on Monday, when the two leaders expressed their desire to ensure stability and prevent any kind of conflict.Yet Biden is under internal pressure to show a firm stand in the face of human rights abuses in China.

And on Tuesday, the Washington Post revealed that the Biden administration will soon announce a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, which means that athletes can participate in the competitions, but official representatives of the US government will not attend.

White House officials said the issue did not come up during Xi and Biden's virtual meeting.

Relations between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, are experiencing tensions over issues including the origin of the Corona virus, trade and competition rules, the expansion of Beijing's nuclear arsenal and increasing Chinese pressure on Taiwan.

Despite this, Biden and his Chinese counterpart emphasized their responsibility to the world to avoid conflict, after the leaders of the world's two largest economies began widely watched talks.

In a virtual meeting, Xi called Biden an "old friend," and said the two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation to solve the many challenges before them.