Clinton: Bush should not open Olympics
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago
WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday called on President Bush to stay away from the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing, a fresh sign that politics, not sports, may take center stage at the summer games.
The Democratic presidential candidate said a boycott of the opening ceremonies by Bush would underscore U.S. concerns about the recent unrest in Tibet and questions about China's relationship with Sudan.
"The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership," she said, charging the Bush administration "has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China."
She said Bush should not plan on attending the ceremonies "absent major changes by the Chinese government."
Her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, said recently that he was conflicted about whether the U.S. should fully participate.
President Bush has said he will attend the Olympics because it is a sporting event, not a political event.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters Monday that his position had not changed, nor had the administration's concerns about China's human rights record.
"We have never been afraid to express those views either directly by the president or the president's senior advisers when they travel to China and publicly," Fratto said.
2 comments:
I am the last one to take bush's side, but all you tibet nagers, what do you think is going to hapen if china looses face because of tibet, what do you think they will do after the olympics, once the olympics are done u and ur inexperience friends, wont be able to do anything will you...boycoting the olympics is a bad idea, on 2 points, china will be pissed, and sports should not be mixed with politics...
i agree with anonymous.. let the athletes be athletes, andleave the politics aside. Sure, the West has a problem with China's policies but that doesn't stop them from doing business with the Chinese, does it? the IOC should not have selected Beijing in the first place, if they have a problem with China's human rights records. Since the IOC already selected them, "let the games begin" as the saying goes...
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