Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, center, walks inside the lower house of parliament on Dec. 6. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Japan has decided not to send a government delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Reuters reported.
Why it matters: A number of countries, including the U.S., have announced diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Games to protest human rights abuses committed by China's government.
- But although Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno noted during the Friday briefing that Japan "believes that respect for human rights is important," he did not explicitly define the move as a diplomatic boycott, per CNN.
Driving the news: Japan will still send a contingent of officials with direct ties to the Games, such as Tokyo Olympics Chief Seiko Hashimoto, Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita and Japan's Paralympic Chief Kazuyuki Mori, CNN reported.
- Japan has typically been less vocal about human rights issues in China due in part to strong economic ties between the two nations, per Reuters.
Go deeper: Beijing Olympics: These countries have announced diplomatic boycotts