China warns U.S. will 'pay' for Olympics diplomatic boycott

China has told the United States it will "pay" for its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics on human rights grounds.

The White House on Monday announced it would not send any government officials to the Games in February 2022, due to "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses."

This prompted a stern response from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who told a press conference Tuesday: "The U.S. will pay for its wrongdoing. You can wait and see."

Zhao accused the U.S. of hypocrisy and called Western allegations of a cultural genocide of Uyghur Muslims a "fabricated" lie.

"The U.S. side attempts to disrupt the Beijing Winter Olympics," he said.

According to human rights groups and firsthand accounts, China has held 1 million Uyghurs and other minorities in internment camps where some are subjected to forced labor, sterilization and torture. China denies this and says the “re-education camps” are necessary to fight terrorism.