French President Sarkozy Raises Prospect Of Olympic Boycott

LONDON: French President Nicolas Sarkozy left open Tuesday the possibility of boycotting the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony over China’s crackdown in Tibet, though other major world leaders vowed to attend.

The White House said that US President George W. Bush still planned to be present for the August 8 opening of the Olympics, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office said he would be there for the closing ceremony on August 24.

But Sarkozy spoke out amid growing political calls for stronger action against the deadly crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet.

Even countries opposing any boycott have urged China to show restraint handling the demonstrations. Tibet’s exiled leaders said 140 people have been killed in the unrest over the past two weeks, while China said there have been 20 deaths.

Sarkozy, who arrives in Britain for a two-day visit later on Wednesday, said “all options are open” regarding a boycott. He appealed to the “sense of responsibility” of China’s leaders over the unrest.

The president’s aides specified that France was still considering the possibility of snubbing the opening ceremony, but ruled out boycotting the entire Games.

Alain Bernard, the new French swimming star who set three world records at the European championships, backed a protest of the opening ceremony. “It would send a strong signal to the politicians,” he told TF1 television.

It was also announced that the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, would visit France during the Olympics.

Other countries remained firmly against any boycott.

“The last I checked with the president, no, our position remains that we believe that the purpose of the Olympics is to let international athletes come together and showcase their talents,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack made similar comments, saying, “I’ll reiterate our view, and that is that the Olympics is an important international sporting event.”

Another US political leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rejected the boycott calls.

“I am not in favour of a boycott of the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games are a sporting event,” she told reporters in Barcelona, the Europa Press news agency reported.

In Britain, which will host the 2012 Olympics, Downing Street said Prime Minister Brown was still planning to attend the Beijing closing ceremony.

Other politicians called for mass demonstrations when the Olympic torch passes through London on April 6, and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the country would allow Tibet protestors to stage a demonstration when the Olympic torch passes through London.

But Miliband argued for moderation over Tibet, saying “the danger is that people give up on that (peaceful) course and turn to a more violent course of action.”

Australia, Germany and Japan have ruled out boycotting the Olympics while urging the Chinese authorities to show restraint. Germany’s government said China and the Dalai Lama should reach a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

After protests marred the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece on Monday, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith promised safe passage for the torch relay when it comes to Canberra on April 24.

“If people want to peacefully protest about the torch or the Olympics or Tibet, that is what Australian society or New Zealand society is all about, but they should do that in a sensible and peaceful way,” Smith said.

Japan rejected calls for a boycott, but Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said: “For China’s own sake, it is best to be as open and transparent as possible” handling protests.

Other countries, including Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland have said they have no plans to boycott any part of the Olympics.

China meanwhile condemned protests surrounding the torch relay around the world, after three members of the French-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reports Without Borders – RSF) disrupted the lighting of the torch ceremony at Ancient Olympia on Monday.

One unfurled a banner demanding a boycott of the Games and another tried to grab the microphone from the chief Chinese Games organiser as he gave a speech.

Two Nobel peace prize winners weighed in Tuesday. South African anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu called for China to engage with the Dalai Lama, saying the spiritual leader defined “non-violence and compassion and goodness.”

Costa Rica President Oscar Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel peace prize for his efforts to bring peace to Central America and is a friend of the Dalai Lama, said he was against a boycott of the Games. He said “dialogue between civilised people” was needed.

Meanwhile Cuba’s government, which has important trade links with China, said it was “strongly opposed to any intention to interfere in China’s internal affairs.”

And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that unrest in Tibet was part of a US plan aimed at boycotting the Olympics.

“The violence in Tibet is the product of a plan of aggression of the United States against China, and in short term, try to boycott the Olympic Games,” Chavez said at a meeting of foreign correspondents in Caracas.

“Venezuela supports with passion the celebration of these games,” he said. – AFP/ac

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IOC Says Olympics Can Bring Change To China

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece : The Olympic Games can prove to be a factor for change in China, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Jacques Rogge said on Sunday.

“We believe that China will change by opening the country to the scrutiny of the world through the 25,000 media who will attend the Games,” Rogge said.

“Awarding the Olympic Games to the most populous country in the world will open up one fifth of mankind to Olympism,” he said.

Rogge’s comments came ahead of Monday’s ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame here and amid calls for a boycott of the Games to protest China’s military crackdown in Tibet.

The IOC has come under criticism for not taking a stand on deadly events in the Himalayan province this past week.

Rogge on Sunday noted that non-government and human rights organisations wanted to “leverage” the Games to bring pressure to bear on China.

But he insisted that “the Olympic Games are a catalyst for change, not a panacea for all ills”.

“The events in Tibet are a matter of great concern to the IOC… but we are neither a political nor an activist organisation,” he said.

“The main responsibility of the IOC is to deliver the best possible Games to the athletes who deserve it.”

“We do this in a close and intense collaboration with the Beijing Organising Committee.

“The IOC will work tirelessly with China for the welfare of the athletes and the success of the Olympic Games,” Rogge said.

Concern over protests in Olympia against the 57-year occupation of Tibet by China, and last week’s crackdown in the Himalayan province by Chinese forces, has introduced unprecedented security to this year’s ceremony in Olympia.

Hotels have opened their guest lists to police inspection, officers are patrolling the hills around the ancient stadium where the ritual is held and there are plans to prevent spectators from lining the relay route.

Thousands of people are expected to attend Monday’s ceremony, including 2,500 accredited journalists and dignitaries, Beijing Olympic organising committee chairman Liu Qi, and the president and prime minister of Greece, in addition to Rogge.

But activists warn that the lighting of the flame will trigger a wave of protests against Chinese authorities over Tibet and other issues.

Officials from different activist groups have drawn up plans with the goal of galvanising opposition to China’s record on Tibet, Darfur, human rights, religious freedom and other issues in the run-up to the August Games.

The spiritual group Falungong, for example, is running its own torch relay to highlight the plight of its followers in China, who it says are subject to brutal persecution.

And Dream for Darfur, an organisation set up to pressure China into helping end the bloodshed in the western Sudanese region, is planning protests along the torch relay route. – AFP/de

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Nirina Zubir Arak Obor Olimpik

JAKARTA, 21 MAC 2008: Bangga sungguh hati Nirina Zubir, 28, apabila terpilih untuk mewakili Indonesia sebagai pembawa obor Sukan Olimpik Beijing 2008 apabila obor itu akan dibawa singgah di negara seberang itu pada 22 April nanti.

Bahkan Nirina mengakui bahawa dirinya sudah tidak sabar lagi menanti kedatangan obor itu sambil membawa ia berlari mengelilingi kota Jakarta.

“Semua ini bagaikan mimpi buat saya. Tapi ia adalah satu penghormatan yang cukup besar buat saya. Apatah lagi, ini adalah kali pertama obor sukan Olimpik ini datang dan singgah ke Indonesia.

“Sebagai persediaan, saya sudah pun mengadakan latihan dengan berlari mengelilingi kawasan rumah saya sebagai persiapan diri,•῀῝ kata aktres yang terkenal dengan wataknya dalam filem My Heart dan Love Is Cinta ini.

Penyertaan Nirina bersama 5 calon untuk menjadi pembawa obor di Jakarta lain adalah atas pilihan syarikat Coca-Cola Indonesia sendiri iaitu salah satu penaja untuk Sukan Olimpik Beijing 2008 pada tahun ini.

Seperkara lagi, ia turut bersandarkan usaha aktres kelahiran Madagaskar ini yang selama ini cukup bergiat aktif untuk menyelamatkan hidupan liar yang hampir pupus di Indonesia.

Nirina juga adalah salah Anggota Kehormatan, World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) di Indonesia sama seperti Maya Karin di Malaysia.

“Saya bangga kerana dipilih atas usaha yang saya lakukan selama ini dalam menyedarkan masyarakat tentang betapa pentingnya kita menjaga dan melindungi hidupan liar ini.

“Mudahan-mudahan apa yang saya lakukan ini dapat memberikan inspirasi atau menyedarkan masyarakat untuk terus mengambil berat tentang hidupan liar yang perlukan perlindungan ini,” katanya yang sudah pun membintangi 6 filem ini.

Indonesia adalah salah satu daripada 21 negara di 5 benua yang akan disinggahi pelari Obor Olimpik dalam perjalanannya ke menuju ke Beijing. Ia akan mula dinyalakan di Olympia, Yunani pada 24 Mac ini dan akan tiba di Beijing di upacara pembukaannya pada 8 Ogos nanti.

Murai

Olympic Chief Says Australia Will Not Boycott Beijing Games

SYDNEY: The Australian Olympic Committee does not support a boycott of the Beijing Games because of concerns about human rights in China, committee president John Coates said Monday.

Deadly violence in Tibet has raised some calls to boycott the sporting showcase.

But Coates said Australia agreed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy that boycotting the event would only hurt the athletes participating.

“It is not the role of the IOC to take the lead in addressing such issues as human rights or political matters, which are most appropriately addressed by governments or concerned organisations,” Coates said in an open letter.

“The fact that the Games in Beijing put the spotlight on the country, thereby encouraging discussion on issues of interest to the global community, is a positive outcome of bringing the Olympic movement to China.”

“Australia has participated in every Olympic Games of the modern era and the Games in Beijing will be no different.”

In 1980, the then-Australian Olympic Federation sent a team to the Moscow Olympics in defiance of a directive of the Australian government to boycott the Games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

However, many athletes withdrew from the Moscow event of their own accord.

Coates said the Olympics were an overall “vehicle for good” and had a positive impact on any host city.

“The IOC’s focus must remain on enabling highly dedicated athletes to prove themselves at the pinnacle of sport,” he said.

“As the president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, has stated, to deny them that opportunity would penalise athletes and solve nothing.

“The IOC is not in a position to pressure China on matters outside of Games time or which concern national laws.”

Coates said he supported previous statements from the executive director of the Beijing organising committee Wang Wei that the Games would speed reform in China and help it become a more open society.

“We sincerely hope that will be the case,” Coates said.

In September, the then sports minister George Brandis ruled out boycotting the Games over China’s human rights record in relation to the treatment of the banned Falungong spiritual movement.

Australia’s team of 500 athletes will be the third largest squad at Beijing, behind China and the US, and hopes to finish among the top five nations in terms of medal haul.

Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described the violence in Tibet as disturbing and called on Chinese authorities to exercise restraint. He has indicated he will raise the issue at meetings in Beijing next month. – AFP/ac

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FM Yang Jiechi Says Anti-China Forces Politicise Olympics

BEIJING: China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said anti-China forces were bent on politicising the Olympics, but he vowed they would never succeed.

Yang said foreign governments and individuals had demonstrated “profound friendship” for China by supporting the August 8-24 Beijing Games.

“It is not the international community that is politicising the Olympic Games,” he said.

“It is a small number of individuals and forces who are anti-China and very biased against China.”

Yang did not name the anti-China forces, but activists have been using the Games to press China over a range of issues, including human rights, religious freedom, its controversial rule of Tibet and its involvement in Darfur.

Yang said China was open to criticism and welcomed suggestions on how to ensure the success of the Olympics – as long as they were offered in the spirit of goodwill.

But he added that “those people out to tarnish China’s image… will never get away with it because what they are doing is opposed by the people of China and people around the world”.

He also rejected suggestions that the Chinese government itself was politicising the Games by using them as a tool to stir up nationalism.

“Patriotism and politicising the Olympic Games are two different things,” he said.

“I think that any fair-minded person with an objective view would admit that the support the Chinese people have demonstrated to the Olympic Games is absolutely sincere and from the bottom of their hearts,” he said.

– AFP/so

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