WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic games in Beijing to protest China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.

American athletes could still take part in the 2022 games under a diplomatic boycott. They will begin February 4, 2022. However, a delegation from the U.S. government would not be able to attend.

It isn’t new to think of banning diplomatically the Beijing Games. An April State Department spokeswoman said that Washington was already in negotiations with its key allies regarding ways to protest China’s violations of human rights during the Winter Olympics.

However, Thursday was the first occasion Biden had publicly stated that a boycott of diplomatic relations is “something we are considering.”

Biden responded briefly to an immediate question before quickly switching to another reporter. It took place in an Oval Office meeting between Biden and Justin Trudeau the Canadian Prime Minister.

The Washington Post published earlier this week reported that the announcementThe possibility of an American diplomatic boycott against the Beijing Games would be likely before the end the month.

The Beijing Olympics have been called “Genocide Games” by human rights activists. They also asked the International Olympic Committee not to hold the Olympics.

However, Western governments generally reject the idea of an outright boycott of the Games. They consider it unfairly penalizing athletes for misdeeds of the host country.

Beijing’s actions have drawn condemnation from around the world. “extensive program of repression” against members of its Uyghur Muslim minority ethnic group.

In March, the United States of America and its allies imposed sanctions on several officials in Xinjiang province, the traditional homeland of the Uyghur people. These sanctions are still in effect.

Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, has called the treatment of Uyghurs by China’s government a “genocide,” however Biden hasn’t used that word. Beijing claims it does not violate Uyghurs’ human rights.

Biden made these remarks just days after a much-anticipated virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, the summit did not produce any concrete results.

Later, a White House spokesperson confirmed that the Olympics were not mentioned during the lengthy meeting.

Disclosure: NBC Sports is owned by NBCUniversal, a parent company of CNBC. NBC Olympics owns the U.S. broadcast rights for all Summer and Winter Games until 2032.