Apr 9, 2008 9:56 am US/Pacific
House Urges Bush To Boycott Olympic Ceremony
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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President George W. Bush (File)
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
President Bush is being urged to boycott the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in Beijing unless China takes stronger action to end the violence in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Michael Capuano was seeking support for a resolution stating this policy in talks Wednesday with House colleagues.
The resolution comes amid protests this week over China's human rights record as the Olympic torch traveled from London to Paris to San Francisco.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged a Bush boycott, citing concerns about Darfur and recent unrest in Tibet.
Meanwhile, Bush on Wednesday again exhorted Beijing to reach out to the Dalai Lama to find a solution.
"It would stand the Chinese government in good stead if they would begin a dialogue with the representatives for the Dalia Lama," he said during a picture-taking moment while holding talks with Singapore's senior minister, Goh Chok Tong.
Violent clashes in Tibet are threatening to overshadow China's hosting role of the Summer Olympics in August.
Bush said that if China's leaders ever were to reach out to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, "they'd find him to be a really fine man, a peaceful man."
Bush has previously appealed directly to Chinese President Hu Jintao on the matter.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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