EDIT: it seems I may have been wrong about Bush saying he’d go and that he only said he intended to go. So I guess he still has an out if he ends up having “scheduling issues” as well. But let’s be realistic, we all know what “scheduling issues” mean in the world of diplomacy.
I’m probably behind on the news, but this is the first I heard of an official call for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony. Note that this is different from a boycott of the actual games, which would punish the athletes as well.
I’ve seen news of different heads of state declining to go because of “scheduling issues”, but I was not aware it might be fueled by a reporters without borders declaration until I saw this article.
It’s an interesting turn of events, and I wonder if it will be effective.
I doubt it will influence views in China. Considering the “everyone’s picking on us” mentality, it will just be one more thing to anger the Chinese when the CCP propaganda machine hits them.
I’ve noticed something else that intrigued me: in looking at pro-China comments, I’ve noticed they target their attacks at the US, even though officially, other countries have been more vocal.
