The United States Senate has passed a Bill calling for a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 ©Getty Images

The United States Senate has passed a Bill confirming a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The bipartisan Bill introduces a series of measures aimed at tackling Chinese foreign policy and economic influence.

The legislation moves the US closer to fulfilling calls to diplomatically boycott the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A US Government Commission had called for the move in April, with US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi offering support last month.

The Act confirms that it will be "the policy of the US to implement a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games in the People’s Republic of China".

The legislation adds that it will be US policy to "call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing human rights abuses, including the Uyghur genocide".

The Act would prevent the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from providing any Federal funds to support of facilitate the attendance of any US Government employee at the Games.

An exception is included, which permits funding for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, national governing bodies, athletes, employees, contractors and consular services.

The Act was passed by the US Senate by 68 votes to 32.

The United States has moved closer to a diplomatic boycott of the Games ©Getty Images
The United States has moved closer to a diplomatic boycott of the Games ©Getty Images

The legislation will now go to the US House of Representatives, where it could face greater opposition.

US President Joe Biden would then need to sign the Act before it becomes law.

China has been accused of crimes including using forced Uyghur labour, operating a mass surveillance programme, detaining thousands in internment camps, carrying out forced sterilisations and intentionally destroying Uyghur heritage.

Beijing claims the camps are training centres designed to stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism, and denies the charges laid against it.

China's record on human rights - including in Tibet and Hong Kong - is coming under increasing scrutiny.

Tensions between the US and China are strained, with American authorities joining the European Union, Canada and United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on China earlier this year in response to alleged abuses of human rights in Xinjiang.

China issued a series of sanctions in response.