Colourful lights with the Olympic rings and words reading "Beijing candidate city'' and year ''2022'' are seen at a lantern fair in Beijing on February 11, 2017.
Handmade lantern is a popular craftwork to celebrate the Chinese lunar new year. / AFP / WASHINGTON - The U.S.
will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses, the White House confirmed Monday, a move that China has vowed to greet with "firm countermeasures."White House press secretary Jen Psaki says U.S.
athletes will continue to compete and will "have our full support," but added "we will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.""U.S.