Japan PM says to attend Beijing Olympic opening

Enlarge Photo Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and wife Kiyoko are seen in Rusutsu town, on Japan's... Slideshow: Day in Pictures: 6th July 2008

Sun, Jul 6 03:54 PM

By Linda Sieg

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - In the latest sign of warming ties with China, Japan's prime minister said on Sunday that he would attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, which he saw as a sporting event, not a political one.

Human rights activists have called for world leaders to boycott the Olympics opening ceremony on Aug. 8 to protest China's record on civil rights.

China's crackdown on Tibet after deadly riots in March sparked worldwide protests over Beijing's policies, including demonstrations that disrupted the procession of the Olympics torch.

But Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, speaking after talks with U.S. President George W. Bush ahead of a Group of Eight rich nations' summit in northern Japan, said he would attend.

"There are many athletes going from Japan so it's natural that I want to cheer them on," he told a joint news conference in Hokkaido with U.S. President George W. Bush ahead of a July 7-9 summit of the Group of Eight rich nations.

"There is no need to involve politics. Even if China has various problems, they are in the midst of making efforts to improve them," he added.

Sino-Japanese ties have improved markedly in the past two years after a chill during the 2001-2006 tenure of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, partly because of the Japanese leader's visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, seen in Beijing as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Fukuda met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Tokyo in May in high-profile talks to cement warming ties between the two Asian rivals, and they will chat again on the sidelines of the G8 gathering.

Bush defended his own decision to travel to Beijing for the event. "I view the Olympics as a (sic) opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes. It's an athletic event," the U.S. president told the same news conference.

"I had the honour of dealing with ... two Chinese presidents during my term and every time I have visited with them, I have talked about religious freedom and human rights. .... I don't need the Olympics to express my concerns," Bush said.

"I happen to believe not going to ... the opening ceremonies of the games would be an affront to the Chinese people, which may make it more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership," he added.

(For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

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