The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing have officially begun, as has NBC's coverage of the event. On Thursday night, host Mike Tirico wasted no time addressing a controversial aspect of the Games being held in China.
Tirico, before mentioning anything about any of the athletes or competitions, spoke about the alleged genocide of the Uyghur Muslim population in the western Xinjiang region of the country. He noted that multiple countries, including the United States, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games, meaning they won’t be sending any politicians on behalf of their country.
Australia, Great Britain, Canada and now India are among the countries choosing to diplomatically boycott the Winter Games.