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Bush: It'd be 'an affront' to skip opening ceremonies in Beijing
TOKYO -- President Bush spoke out Sunday on his decision to attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, saying it would be "an affront to the Chinese people" to skip the Aug. 8 event.
Others leaders are considering boycotts over China's human rights record.
"The Chinese people are watching very carefully about the decisions by world leaders, and I happen to believe that not going to the opening ceremony for the games would be an affront to the Chinese people, which may make it more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership," the president said.
The White House announced Bush's plans Thursday.
Previously, officials had been reluctant to confirm Bush's plans for the opening event, although there was no doubt he would attend the Olympic Games.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush will travel in August to South Korea, Thailand and China and will attend the opening ceremonies of the games with first lady Laura Bush. The specific dates of travel were not released.
Bush's trip is built around the Olympics, which the White House long has said Bush plans to attend as a celebration of sports.
Bush also will be dealing with the tense matters of U.S. beef imports in South Korea and the six-country effort to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons.
Any Olympic protest by the United States would have deeply offended a proud Beijing leadership that hopes the games will show China's emergence as a new world power. It also would run the risk of hindering a host of international efforts the Bush administration needs China's help to solve, including efforts to confront Myanmar's military junta and nuclear efforts in North Korea and Iran.
Critics of China have said if Bush were to avoid the opening ceremony, it would send a powerful signal of international anger over China's violent response to demonstrations in Tibet in March.
Bush himself has said he does not view the Olympics as a political event. "I view it as a sporting event," he said earlier this year.
In April, Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said it would be a "cop-out" for countries to skip the opening ceremonies to protest China's crackdown in Tibet. China says 22 people died in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, while foreign Tibet supporters say many times that number were killed.
Significant talks between Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, are taking place this week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week he would attend the opening ceremonies if the latest talks made progress. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend the opening ceremonies.
Japanese Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced Sunday that he will attend.
"There are many aspiring athletes that will be going to Beijing, and I would like to cheer them on, too, which I think is only natural. I don't think you really have to link Olympics to politics," Fukuda said.
Associated Press
Part of President Bush's rationale to attend the opening ceremonies is his belief that the Olympics should not be politicized. "I view it as a sporting event," he said earlier this year.
