UN chief to attend Beijing Winter Olympics

Picture taken with drone on Oct. 28, 2021 shows an aerial view of National Aquatics Center (R). (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

SINGAPORE, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, and France has no plans to join a diplomatic boycott of the Games, Singapore's Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported Friday.

"The secretary-general received an invitation from the International Olympic Committee to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Games and he has accepted it," the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.

In the same article, Lianhe Zaobao reported that French President Emmanuel Macron said France has no plans to join an "insignificant" diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The Olympics should not be politicized, Macron said.