US President Joe Biden said Thursday that a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China set for February is "something we’re considering."

The US president was responding to a reporter who asked about a boycott of the Games at the start of a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

When asked at a news conference on Thursday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not comment on the nature of the boycott but said the Biden administration has "serious concerns" about human rights abuses in China.

"There are a range of factors where we look at what our presence will be," she said.

Biden's remarks came three days after a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which the US president raised human rights abuses and a host of strains on the US-Sino relationship.

Several US lawmakers and human rights advocates have repeatedly called for a boycott of the 2022 Games.

the two leaders did not discuss the Olympics during the conversation on Monday, according to a White House statement./aa