WASHINGTON — Fifteen House members on Tuesday urged President Bush to reconsider his decision to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.
“It would be clearly inappropriate for you to attend the Olympic Games in China, given the increasingly repressive nature of that country’s government,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter organized by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
The letter was signed by 14 Democrats and Republican Dana Rohrabacher of California.
IOC tells China to keep Internet open
BEIJING — The Internet must be open during the Beijing Olympics. That was the message a top-ranking International Olympic Committee official delivered Tuesday to Beijing organizers.
Beijing routinely blocks Chinese access to some foreign news websites and blogs, a practice it has stepped up since rioting broke out over two weeks ago in Tibet.
Kevan Gosper, vice chairman of the IOC coordinating commission, said restricting access to the Internet during the Games “would reflect very poorly” on the host nation.
Cold reception sought for Olympic torch
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s board of supervisors has passed a resolution protesting China’s poor human-rights record ahead of the Olympic torch’s visit to the city. The resolution asks city officials to express their disapproval when they receive the Beijing Olympic Torch on April 9. San Francisco is the only U.S. city to host the Olympic torch relay.
