Chinese Saga of Olympic Shame Continues -- British PM to miss Olympic
opening / FT
British PM to miss Olympic opening
By George Parker in London and Demetri Sevastopulo and Andrew Ward in
Wa****ngton
Published: April 9 2008 23:28 | Last updated: April 9 2008 23:28
Gordon Brown will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing
Olympics, Downing Street confirmed on Wednesday night, in a move that
could add to pressure on other world leaders ¨C including President
George W. Bush ¨C to stay away.
However, Mr Brown will attend the closing ceremony of the games, when
the Olympic baton will be formally passed to London, host city in 2012.
Downing Street denied any change of policy, arguing that it had made
clear on March 19 that the prime minister would only attend the closing
ceremony. Tessa Jowell, Olympics minister, will represent Britain at the
opening ceremony.
But the prime minister has allowed confusion to develop over his
intentions and the confirmation that he would not be in Beijing for the
opening of the games caused some surprise.
Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader, told Channel 4 News that Mr Brown
¡°seems to do the right thing late in the day when he is forced to do so
by public opinion¡±. He claimed the move was ¡°a last minute U-turn¡±.
Calls for a boycott by Mr Brown have been gathering since Beijing
cracked down on protests in Tibet and intensified this week when the
Olympic torch was paraded through London accompanied by Chinese
paramilitary police.
Protests in London were followed by similar demonstrations in Paris,
where the torch had to be extinguished three times.
Mr Brown was unclear on his intentions on April 1 when Nicolas Sarkozy,
French president, visited London, insisting that the Dalai Lama, Tibet¡¯s
spiritual leader, was not calling for a boycott of the games.
He talked of Britain being represented at ¡°ceremonies¡± at the Olympics.
¡°We will not be boycotting the Olympic Games. Britain will be attending
the Olympic Games ceremonies.¡±
Downing Street said it was ¡°complete rubbish¡± to suggest there had been
a U-turn, although Mr Brown¡¯s decision not to attend the high-profile
opening is likely to cause surprise in some other world capitals.
Mr Brown travels to Wa****ngton next week for talks with Mr Bush, who is
under pressure to boycott the Olympics.
A senior US official on Wednesday told the Financial Times that Mr Bush
planned to attend the opening ceremony, despite ambiguous comments by
Dana Perino, the White House press secretary. ¡°His full intention is to
go to the ceremony and go to the games and sup****t his athletes,¡± the
official said.
In her daily briefing, Ms Perino said the president remained committed
to attending the games but refused to be drawn over whether he would be
at the opening ceremony. ¡°It is way too far in advance for us to
announce the president¡¯s schedule,¡± she said.
The official explained the White House¡¯s ambiguous public stance as an
attempt to avoid the opening ceremony becoming a test of Mr Bush¡¯s
stance on human rights. Senior Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, the
presidential hopeful, and Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, have called
on Mr Bush to boycott the opening ceremony.
In a statement, Mrs Clinton commended Mr Brown for his ¡°im****tant
decision¡±.
Financial Times
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