Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain, former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and former assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, is a TV anchor at Indus News in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

"It's important we communicate honestly and directly to one another about our priorities and our intentions'' were the words of U.S. President Joe Biden at the virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November. Yet a month later, a complete and brazen reversal at the international stage is being witnessed as realpolitik takes center stage once again. 

Washington D.C.'s decision to withhold its officials from participating the Beijing Winter Olympics has already become a major source of embarrassment for the United States, but if examined closely, the policy adopted was also aimed at forging alliances for political gain. Coalition building akin to the Quad or the AUKUS alliance on the 2022 Winter Olympics is part of the wider agenda of coercing China by targeting the sports, and camp politics on Beijing is an integral feature of the Biden doctrine. 

No more is this fact evident than the decision taken by governments of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia to echo and toe the American line of not sending their government officials to the event. This was clearly not a sovereign prerogative but more of a concerted attempt by the Biden administration to rope in countries which have issues with China into anti-China lobbying mode. Such policies have been signaled previously, continuously and fallaciously, where "like minded" nations are expected to toe the discredited narrative promoted by the dominant hegemon and gang up on China as the Winter Olympics are set to take place. This is classical political power play in 2021 with apolitical sport being the major casualty. 

It is noteworthy, however, that the International Olympic Committee itself tried to play down such American political power play, yet at a sovereign and bilateral level, countries such as Canada which chose to engage in political maneuvering as mentioned by the Chinese embassy spokesperson, mirrored the exact stance of the Biden administration. Trudeau's stance is a huge favor to Congressional hawks from both sides of the spectrum in American politics. 

The same is the case with the Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison administrations in the UK and Australia, of which both governments approved of American aggression despite facing lingering quagmires domestically, from lopsided domestic policies to inadequate responses to the pernicious effects of the post-pandemic era. Ironically, all three countries have chosen to counterbalance diplomatic abandonment of the Olympics with retaining the right to send athletes to compete at the event which demonstrates that American foreign policy reigns supreme in London, Canberra and Ottawa. These are not tactical or strategic calculations from sovereign governments but caving into a concerted decision to pursue aggression. This is also part of the Biden doctrine.

Now here lies the catch. Beyond a handful of countries, there is no collective voice from the international community on denigrating Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics or suspending diplomatic engagement. For most athletes, the Olympics are the pinnacle of their illustrious careers and countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America have refrained from politicizing the sport, thereby steering clear of what the chairman of the athlete's committee of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics called a "brazen violation of the Olympic Charter." 

Lack of credibility internationally for the Biden administration, however, has translated into lack of widespread denunciation of China for hosting the event where a broad understanding exists that sensitivities and delicacies must be respected by upholding the spirit of the Olympics with a sports-first focus. This has meant that the U.S. has once again failed miserably in penalizing states for alleged and fabricated human rights violations.

The capitals that have chosen to play petty politics with the 2022 Winter Olympics, however, do not even understand the formalities which govern the event. Take the UK for example, where British officials were never invited by China yet the Johnson administration has championed the cause of diplomatic disengagement by making issues out of government officials attending the event. 

American sovereign dictates are being pursued in Canberra as well, with Canberra itself witnessing massive domestic discontent with the confrontational and controversial foreign policy adopted towards Beijing which involves suspending diplomatic channels as avenues for dialogue. The decision to parrot the Biden administration's discredited cause was not even based on domestic consensus in either country. Yet it is part of foreign policy.

Such irony coincides with the Biden administration pursuing camp politics while targeting the Olympics. Such politicization will fail, however, as apolitical sport will once again reign supreme at the event, not politics. 

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