Token Winter Olympics boycott will do nothing to help the Uighurs

That's because Beijing, after yet again being called out on this topic by nations whose treatment of their own indigenous minorities is not above reproach, would lose face if it was seen to change course in the wake of Western pressure.

Chinese governments have responded badly to external criticism for millennia; this is not just a post-revolutionary phenomenon. Under Xi Jinping, the "Middle Kingdom" is making a strong bid to reassert its ancient regional primacy, after more than a century of exploitation and repression by other powers.

Whenever countries such as America and our own publicly condemn Beijing over what it believes are domestic matters, they are supporting this narrative. The CCP quietly welcomes such interventions as useful reminders of the way in which the country has been bullied in the past.

The "boycotts" themselves are half-hearted. The Chinese government is totally indifferent to whether or not US or Australian diplomats attend the Winter Olympics.

"No one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the Olympics to be successfully held by Beijing," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has said.

Zhao noted that Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates was opposed to a diplomatic boycott, and said it would be contrary to the Olympic spirit.

"Politicians calling for a boycott are doing so for their own political interests and posturing," he said.

It's hard to disagree with that assessment. President Biden and the Democrats - whose support has tumbled since the bungled handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, appearing to expose American weakness - want to look strong in the lead-up to what will likely be some very difficult contests during the 2022 midterm elections.

Mr Morrison, who could be going to the polls as early as March, is also on the back foot.

Both men have chosen to invoke nationalist sentiments, using the excuse of legitimate human rights concerns to appear both hawkish and virtuous at the same time.

It is unfortunate America's announcement preceded Australia's. The Chinese will use our apparent willingness to fall into line with the US on almost any issue to boost their oft-repeated claim we have surrendered our foreign policy sovereignty to Washington and have no separate interests of our own.

This use of megaphone diplomacy stands in stark contrast to the way in which a previous US administration handled the vexed question of Jewish emigration from the USSR to Israel in the early 1970s. Negotiating behind the scenes, Nixon and Kissinger facilitated the departure of 66,400 people in 1972 and 1973. When Congress, against the wishes of the administration, blocked most-favoured-nation status for the USSR over Jewish emigration, the tap was turned off.

It's called diplomacy.

If Mr Biden is genuinely concerned about the inhumane treatment of the Uighurs, he should adopt the same approach. As it is, both he and Mr Morrison are open to accusations they are using an oppressed and vulnerable minority in a cynical fashion for their own political advantage.

Diplomacy is often more effective when done quietly through back channels than through token gestures in front of cameras without achieving much.

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