US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged President George W Bush in an interview to consider skipping the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics over China's crackdown on protests in Tibet.
"I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," Pelosi, the top US Democratic lawmaker, told a television in an interview to be aired on Tuesday.
"I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do," the speaker of the House of Representatives said.
During a visit to India in March, Pelosi made the first high-level call on the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, after the protests.
Bush is planning to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing in August despite calls to world leaders to boycott the opening ceremony in protest at the Chinese government's crackdown on demonstrations against its rule in Tibet.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not attend the ceremony, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out following suit.
Beijing says rioters killed 18 innocent civilians and two police officers so far during the protests, but exiled leaders of the Himalayan province say between 135 and 140 people were killed in the Chinese crackdown.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with a daily on Friday that a boycott of the Games would be ineffective and said she did not want to insult the Chinese people.
Source: DDNEWS
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