Olympics reserved for sports not confrontational politics

Hours after US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told the media that the United States is consulting with its allies on jointly boycotting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, citing so-called human rights issues as the reason, the State Department denied it.

"It is something that we certainly wish to discuss and it is certainly something that we understand that a coordinated approach will be not only in our interest, but also in the interest of our allies and partners. So this is one of the issues that is on the agenda, both now and going forward," Price said at a Tuesday news briefing.

Yet a senior State Department official told the media later: "We have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."