WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 (AFP) – US Congressional moves to prevent President George W. Bush from going to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony are “not the best way” to deal with the Tibet crisis, the White House said.
A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday compelling the US leader to skip the ceremony while 15 lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, asked Bush to “renounce” his decision to attend games.
The legislation wanted “to prohibit federal government officials and employees” from attending the Olympics opening session based upon China’s “brutalizing protesters in Tibet.”
“We share concerns on Tibet and other issues, but efforts to prohibit US attendance at this international sporting event are not the best way to address them,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Katherine Starr.
She said the Olympics were “a time for the United States to support our great, young men and women athletes as they represent the best of this country.”
The US leader has said he plans to attend the Olympic Games in August despite calls for world leaders to boycott the ceremony in protest at the Chinese government’s crackdown on demonstrations against its rule in Tibet.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not attend the ceremony, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out following suit.
Exiled Tibetan leaders have put the death toll from the Chinese crackdown at 135-140 people, with another 1,000 injured and many detained following protests that began in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 10 and escalated into rioting there four days later.
China says Tibetan rioters killed 18 civilians and two police officers.
Bush has already raised concerns over the bloody turmoil in Tibet with China’s President Hu Jintao, seeking restraint and calling for the resumption of talks between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama.
“China should respect the rights of all its citizens,” Starr said.
The bill introduced Tuesday was the first legislation proposed in Congress since the Chinese crackdown in Tibet.
