U.K. Won’t Send Top Officials to Beijing Winter Olympics

LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that there would be “effectively a diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Beijing Olympics by Britain, which has now joined the United States and others in pulling its top officials from attendance of the Winter Games.

The boycott by Britain means that athletes will be allowed to compete but provides a way for the country to publicly condemn China for its human rights abuses. Australia and Lithuania have also announced a diplomatic boycott.

When asked during a question-and-answer session in Parliament whether Britain planned to join the formal diplomatic boycott of the Games, the prime minister initially stopped short, saying “we do not support…