Reactions to story from The New York Times

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  The Starting Line: Add One More to the Opening Ceremony Guest List

  http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/the-starting-li...
  148 days ago in 2008 Olympics – Sports and News from China – The New York Times · Authority: 150

  The Starting Line: Add One More to the Opening Ceremony Guest List By Jeff Z. Klein Olympic opening checklist: From left, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown (not going), Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda (going) and U.S. President George W. Bush (going)
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  Bush, Preparing for Talks, Defends Olympics Decision

  http://yourfreepress.blogspot.com/2008/07/bush-pushes-hard-l...
  147 days ago in Your Free Press · Authority: 18

  Bush Pushes Hard Line on Zimbabwe at G-8 Romeo Gacad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A Japanese youth leader greeted the leaders of the Group of 8 countries and the European Commission on Monday in Toyako. && By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG Published: July 8, 2008 TOYAKO, Japan — As world leaders convened in this resort town in northern Japan on Monday for three days of talks on issues including climate change and rising food and energy prices, the agenda quickly shifted to the political crisis in Zimbabwe, exposing a split between Western and African leaders. Bush, Preparing for Talks, Defends Olympics Decision (July 7, 2008) Jim Young/Reuters President Bush with President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the head of the African Union, at the Group of 8 meeting in Toyako, Japan. The leaders of seven African countries and eight industrialized nations emerged divided after three hours of closed-door meetings dominated by the crisis in Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe was sworn in last month for a sixth term as president. He was re-elected in a one-candidate runoff that leaders around the world called a sham after weeks of violence against his opposition. The United States and Britain have proposed an international arms embargo and sanctions on the Zimbabwe government. But with Mr. Mugabe warning Western nations not to interfere, and the African Union already on record as rejecting sanctions, the union’s head, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, suggested that a power-sharing agreement was the answer. “We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe,” Mr. Kikwete said at a news conference with President Bush after the meetings, “and therefore the parties have to work together to come up to — to come out, work together, in a government, and then look at the future of their country together.” Addressing Mr. Bush, he said: “We understand your concerns, but I want to assure you that the concerns you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us on the African continent. The only area that we may differ on is the way forward.” Mr. Bush said he and other Western leaders had “listened carefully” to their African counterparts. “You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe,” he said. “I’m extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham election.” But he did not mention any discussion of sanctions and ignored reporters’ questions on the issue. The leaders are gathered here on the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido for the so-called Group of 8 summit meeting. Technically, the group includes the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia and Japan. The annual event has broadened to include heads of state from around the world, including the “Africa outreach” group of seven African leaders, from Tanzania, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. Perhaps not surprisingly, the meeting is drawing protesters and a shadow meeting as well. Two hours north of the official meeting site, globalization foes held a third day of protests in Hokkaido’s largest city, Sapporo, focused on agriculture on Monday. About 150 people, some made up as clowns or dressed in black-spotted cow suits, marched through downtown Sapporo. Organizers said the current food crisis was a chance to rethink agricultural trade, and rely more on locally grown products. The marchers, who chanted “No More G-8” in English and Japanese, included Japanese farmers and a handful of activists from Europe, the United States and Latin America. In the heavy-handed style of Japan’s security during the summit meeting so far, there were about the same number of police officers as protesters. The police formed a cordon around the march and followed in four blue and white buses. “We face a food crisis, but the G-8 has no answers,” said a march organizer, Yoshitaka Mashima, who is vice chairman of the Japan Family Farmers Movement. “This is an opening for us to appeal to the public with new ideas.” The food crisis was also an issue in the meeting with African leaders, according to officials who attended. Mr. Bush has made aid to Africa, especially his program to fight global AIDS, a centerpiece of his foreign policy agenda, and has said repeatedly that he intends to use this year’s meeting to press his fellow Group of 8 leaders to live up to their 2005 pledge to double development aid to Africa by 2010. According to the advocacy group One, which is based in Washington and focuses on fighting poverty and AIDS around the world, just 14 percent of those pledges have been filled. Dan Price, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Bush, said the African leaders spoke of the “essential need” for wealthy nations to live up to their pledges at the Monday meeting. But despite the focus on poverty and disease, it was clear that Zimbabwe weighed most heavily on the leaders’ minds. Mr. Bush said the leaders spent “a fair amount of time” talking about the political situation there. The African Union leaders have publicly offered only limited criticism of Mr. Mugabe over the violence before the June 27 runoff. In the weeks before the vote, state-sponsored enforcers beat and killed followers of Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader who won 48 percent to Mr. Mugabe’s 43 percent in the first round of elections. Days before the runoff, Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew. Many African leaders have sought to persuade Mr. Mugabe to agree to a power-sharing arrangement with Mr. Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change, so far to no avail. Last week, the United States formally introduced a sanctions resolution at the United Nations, calling for an international arms embargo and punitive measures against the 14 people deemed to be most responsible for the violence. But the African Union argues that the idea is a local problem that can be dealt with locally, and after Monday’s session, it was clear that had not changed. Martin Fackler contributed reporting.
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  George plans to miss no part of the Olympics

  http://blog.revarasmussen.com/2008/07/07/george-plans-to-mis...
  148 days ago in China, hao bu hao · No authority yet

  George W. Bush announced in Japan today that he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing next month: "I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Mr. Bush said at a news conference after the two leaders met privately. He said not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.” Bush Defends Olympics Decision I seldom agree with George, but I do here. I was in China in July 2001, when the 2008 Summer Olympics were awarded to China, and the Chinese were jubilant. It wasn't about tourism or making money so much, as being recognized as an emerging world power. China was going to be the center of the world's attention; China was standing tall. April Rabkin addressed this in the NYT July 2, 2008 writing from Beijing: LAST week, amid continuing calls from activists in Europe and the United States to boycott the Olympics to protest China’s record on human rights, came a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee. The committee expressed disappointment with a speech in which Tibet’s Communist Party leader used the occasion of an Olympic torch ceremony to denounce the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. What the committee and the rest of the world don’t realize is how little China cares what they think. Here in Beijing, the Olympic Games are primarily for domestic consumption, justifying the government’s new global power to its own people. China's Inside Game While I am glad that human rights advocates are bringing attention to China's brutalities in Tibet and Sudan, I don't believe a boycott of the Games is the correct response. The athletes should not be punished. How about boycotting China's products instead? Or would that upset our lives too much?
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  Add One More to the Opening

  http://submissionz.com/olympics/?p=192
  148 days ago in Olympics Observer · No authority yet

  The Starting Line: Add One More to the Opening Ceremony Guest List By Jeff Z. Klein The weekend brought good news for the Beijing Games organizers, as Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced that he, like U.S. President George W. Bush, would attend the Olympic opening ceremonies next month. Fukuda will be the first Japanese prime minister to attend an opening ceremony overseas since Noboru Takeshita was present for the start of the Seoul Games in 1988, a significant decision at the time, given the charged history between Japan and Korea going back to the first half of the 20th century. Fukuda’s decision is a significant one as well, in light of the anger many Chinese feel toward Japan for its brutal invasion and occupation of China in the 1930s and ’40s and its subsequent refusal to officially acknowledge those actions (an anger that has manifested itself at China-Japan soccer matches and that Olympic organizers are hoping does not resurface at the Games.) But there has been a thaw in the two countries’ icy relations over the last couple of years, which may have contributed to Fukuda’s decision — as did last week’s announcement, as the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun points out, of Japan and China’s joint agreement to develop natural gas fields in the East China Sea. Fukuda made the announcement at the start of the G8 summit in Hokkaido, where President Bush defended his decision to attend the opening ceremonies, which other world leaders have taken a pass on because concerns over China’s human rights record in Tibet. Bush made the pragmatic argument that not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.”
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  Sports Shockers

  http://michaeljamesh.blogspot.com/2008/07/sports-shockers.ht...
  148 days ago in As Good As News · Authority: 2

  A Classic Final That Began So Harmlessly, and So Much Earlier - Nadal's win? Compelling, not shocking. William C. Rhoden's aptly turned phrase, The crowd cheered lustily, and by this point rooting interests had given way to deep respect for two champions. All that remained was to crown a champion, not determine the better man. No surprise there, Rhoden does it all the time. The shocker? Mr. Rhoden, who was in London watching some of the finest tennis ever played in person, left the match early to take in a showing of the film Hancock. He will no doubt take some ribbing on his return, but the unexpected, preemptive public confession may beat the alternative of allowing the story to spread slowly among his friends and colleagues. Mr. Rhoden decided to rip this bandaid off, not peel it gradually. Bush, Preparing for Talks, Defends Going to Olympics - W decides to see the Olympics? No surprise there, the man is a sport's fan and the king of the "working" vacation. The upset here is the clear and cogently stated rationale: He said not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.”Whether you agree or not, W managed to make his point without wandering into the thicket of claiming that sports are apolitical. A claim that falls somewhat flatter than usual as the Chinese regime cranks out propaganda at an Olympian level, a level not seen since 1936. -In two minor upsets - 23 year old Anthony Kim wins the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional, his second tour win. Kim, when he's hot, reminds As Good As News of Johnny Miller in his best years, every iron seems to be right on the flag, even when pin hunting is not the safe play. Kim was a little brash when he first arrived on tour, but maybe that's what it takes to take on a legend, whether it's Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus. The minor upset? Only 22% of Koreans are named Kim, so Mr. Kim, an American of Korean descent, actually bucked the odds in the last name category, joining several successful pro golfers (Korean and Korean-American) named Kim on the woman's tour.-J.J. Hardy lost a sixteen game hitting streak Saturday, then came back with two home runs on Sunday. The red hot Brewer's slugger is hitting .448 with serious power over his last eighteen games. The upset? J. J. has apparently not sold his soul to the devil. Fans of the book , The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant or the musical Damn Yankees will be disappointed to learn that the first J stands for James not Joe.
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  Bush, Preparing for Talks, Defends Olympics Decision

  http://tibetrights.org/?p=1753
  148 days ago in Tibet Rights.org - Global View on Genocide in Tibet · Authority: 9

  By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG Published: July 7, 2008 TOYAKO, Japan — President Bush arrived on the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Sunday to talk to world leaders about climate change, soaring oil and gas prices and aid to Africa. But first he defended his decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing next month — and he got a little help from his host, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who announced he would go, too. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Issei Kato/Reuters Reporters watched President Bush and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan on Sunday. Mr. Fukuda said he would attend the Olympics’ opening, as Mr. Bush reiterated he planned to do. Related Times Topics: Group of 8 “I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Mr. Bush said at a news conference after the two leaders met privately. He said not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.” Human rights advocates have been urging a boycott of the Games to protest China’s crackdown on antigovernment protests in Tibet and its support of the government in Sudan. Other world leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, are skipping the opening ceremonies. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has said he may stay home as well, although French news reports said over the weekend that he was about to announce that he would attend. But Mr. Fukuda said, “I don’t think you have to really link Olympics with politics.” Mr. Bush’s visit to the scenic hot springs resort at Toyako, where the leaders are gathered, is his last meeting as president with the leaders of the other Group of 8 industrialized nations. It comes as other nations are frustrated with the United States over the weak dollar and rising oil and food prices, which are threatening the global economy. On Monday, when the session officially began, Mr. Bush met with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia for more than an hour. Afterward they said they agreed on the need for North Korea and Iran to abandon their nuclear ambitions, but they did not bridge their differences over Mr. Bush’s plan to build a missile defense system in eastern Europe. It was their first meeting since Mr. Medvedev succeeded Vladimir V. Putin in May. Mr. Bush said, “I found him to be a smart guy who understands the issues very well.” Later he added, “I’m not going to sit here and psychoanalyze him, but I will tell you that he’s very comfortable, he’s confident, and when he tells you something he means it.” Asked by a reporter what the two men could accomplish together, given the short period of time left in his term and the brief period Mr. Medvedev has been in office, Mr. Bush said, “I reminded him that I’m leaving, but not until six months, and I’m sprinting to the finish.” Mr. Medvedev said he was confident that he would “build on the relationship with the new American administration but we still have six months with the effective administration, and we will try to intensify our dialogue with this administration.” Mr. Bush hopes to use his time here to press his fellow leaders to live up to their promises of more aid to Africa, a centerpiece of his own foreign policy agenda. Climate change is another major topic; after years of pressure to confront the problem of global warming more aggressively, Mr. Bush is now hoping to lead the way to an international agreement by the end of this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But Mr. Bush’s efforts, particularly on climate change, are complicated by the presidential election back home. Both Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, have criticized the White House over what they regard as a lack of commitment to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. “Everyone’s sort of waiting for the next U.S. president,” said Alden Meyer, who is here monitoring the talks as director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group based in Washington. “Either way, you’re going to see a very different approach than President Bush.” Mr. Fukuda has said he would like to conclude the meeting with an agreement to cut heat-trapping gases by 50 percent by 2050. But Mr. Bush has long resisted such a mandatory target unless developing nations like China and India sign on. Before leaving for last year’s Group of 8 meeting in Germany, Mr. Bush proposed his own solution: a series of meetings among high-polluting nations to try to forge an international consensus. The leaders of those countries, which include China and India, are scheduled to meet on Hokkaido on Wednesday, and a major question among summit meeting participants is what will come out of that session. One expert monitoring the talks here, Philip E. Clapp of the Pew Environment Group, said negotiators were considering a proposal put forth by China. In it, China would agree to a long-range target for reducing emissions by 2050 in exchange for a commitment from the United States to set a “solid, aggressive target” for reducing its emissions in a shorter time frame, by 2020. In April, Mr. Bush called for the United States to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and Mr. Clapp said he remained hopeful that a deal could be worked out. But at Sunday’s news conference, Mr. Bush was noncommittal, saying only that the United States was working to come up with a “constructive statement.” Mr. Bush also used the news conference to assuage Japanese concerns about his recent decision to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism — a move that has touched a raw nerve here because of the unresolved issue of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens decades ago. Mr. Bush took the step after the North’s long-delayed declaration of its nuclear program to the outside world. But the fate of the abductees, who disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s apparently as part of an effort by the North to train Japanese-speaking spies, is a very emotional issue, and Japan has been using its role in the so-called six-party talks with North Korea to press for the abductees’ return. The big fear here is that Japan will lose its leverage now that the United States has removed the North from the list of sponsors of terrorism. So Mr. Bush, saying he was “aware of the sensitivity,” made Mr. Fukuda a promise. “The United States will not abandon you on this issue,” he said.

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