By SPA
Washington : U.S. congressional moves to prevent President George W. Bush from attending the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony are “not the best way” to deal with China’s handling of the unrest in Tibet, the White House said Wednesday.
A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives late Tuesday ordering Bush to skip the ceremony, while 15 lawmakers from both political parties asked the president to “renounce” his decision to attend the games.
The legislation sought “to prohibit federal government officials and employees” from attending the Beijing opening session based upon China’s “brutalizing protesters in Tibet.”
“We share concerns on Tibet and other issues, but efforts to prohibit U.S. attendance at this international sporting event are not the best way to address them,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Katherine Starr.
Starr, reiterating the White House’s position, told reporters that 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.”
Bush has said he plans to attend the Beijing games in August despite calls for world leaders to boycott the ceremony in protest of the Chinese government’s crackdown on demonstrations against its rule in Tibet. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she will not attend the opening ceremony, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out a boycott.