It would be a “cop-out” for countries to skip the opening
ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics as a way of protesting
China’s crackdown in Tibet, President George W. Bush’s
national security adviser said Sunday.
The kind of “quiet diplomacy” the U.S. is practicing is a
better way to send a message to China’s leaders rather than
“frontal confrontation,” Stephen Hadley said.
Bush has given no indication he will skip the event.
“I don’t view the Olympics as a political event,” Bush
said this past week. “I view it as a sporting event.”
The White House has not yet announced whether he
will attend the opening ceremony on Aug. 8.
“We haven’t worked out the details of his schedule at
this point in time, but from his vantage point, if you listen
to what he said, he has no reason not to go,” Hadley said
in broadcast interviews Sunday. “Because what he has said
is we need to be using diplomacy.”
After calling a boycott “a bit of a red herring,” Hadley
said, “I think unfortunately a lot of countries say, ‘Well, if
we say that we are not going to the opening ceremonies,
we’ve checked the box on Tibet.’ That’s a cop-out.
“If other countries are concerned about Tibet, they ought
to do what we are doing through quiet diplomacy, send the
message clearly to the Chinese that this is an opportunity
with the whole world watching, to show that they take
into account and are determined to treat their citizens
with dignity and respect. They would put pressure on the
Chinese authorities quietly to meet with representatives
of the Dalai Lama and use this as an opportunity to help
resolve that situation,” he said.
Critics of China say if Bush were to avoid the opening
ceremony, it would send a powerful signal of international
anger about China’s violent response to demonstrating
Buddhist monks in Tibet.
“The whole issue of opening ceremonies is a nonissue,”
Hadley said. “I think it is a way of dodging what really needs
to happen if you’re concerned about (Tibet).”
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend the opening
ceremonies. Brown’s office said he will attend the closing
ceremony. Merkel said the opening event never was on
her schedule.
Bush is going the Olympics to show support for the
American team and all the participating athletes, Hadley
said. At the same time, he is relying on “his own personal
diplomacy” in dealing directly with Chinese officials.
China has defended its use of force against anti-Chinese
protesters in Tibet, describing demonstrations as riots and
violent crimes. The uprising is the most sustained against
Chinese rule in almost two decades. It has put Beijing’s
human rights record in the spotlight, embarrassing a Communist
leadership that had hoped for a smooth run-up to
the Olympics.
Asked whether confronting the Beijing government about
Tibet in public was counterproductive, Hadley said, “It’s an
issue of the Chinese government. It’s also an issue of the
Chinese people, who are very invested in the Olympics, who
see it as a coming of age for China. And so it’s a balancing
here. We think that it is very important to deal with the Tibet
issue. But we think the best way to do that is through the kind
of diplomacy we have been undertaking, not by the kind of
frontal confrontation that’s being suggested by some.”
U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel praised
Bush for supporting and encouraging the American team.
“That means a great deal to the athletes who are training
and sacrificing every day,” he said.