Because of China’s poor human rights record, the White House has decided against sending a formal delegation to the Games.
Still, the US has said that US athletes would be allowed to participate and would have the government’s full backing.
If the United States boycotts the Games, China has previously promised to take “decisive measures.”
Last month, US President Joe Biden indicated he was considering a diplomatic boycott of the event.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the boycott, explaining that the administration would not participate in the “frenzy” of the Olympics.
Jen Psaki said penalizing athletes who were training for this event was the wrong decision. But refusing to send an official US delegation to the 2022 Games would give a clear message.
China’s embassy in Washington, DC, hit back at the US decision, calling it a “grave misunderstanding of the Olympic Charter’s spirit.”
No invitation has been extended to US politicians, according to Mr Liu, and the “diplomatic boycott” is based on nothing.
“If the United States is determined to have its own way, China will take resolute countermeasures,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said ahead of the statement.
As of Tuesday morning, the phrase “US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics” was restricted on Chinese social media site Weibo.
The vast majority of the comments underneath a Global Times post about the news were also deleted, leaving just eight out of nearly 1,500 comments uncensored.
The Olympic Games are frequently attended by high-level government officials from around the world.
The US team, led by First Lady Jill Biden, attended the summer Olympics in Tokyo earlier this year.
