WASHINGTON — President Bush is so emphatic about going to the Olympics in China that one might think flying halfway around the globe to attend the Games is what presidents do.
But never before has an American leader shown up at an Olympics on foreign soil. And Bush is doing more than just dropping by. He plans to soak in as much as he can, with large blocks of time on his Beijing schedule devoted to watching athletes compete.
For this president, perhaps the most avid in a long line of White House sports buffs, it is an event that begins and ends with sports.
Bush, who leaves Monday for a week-long Asia trip, touches down first in South Korea, where trade, North Korea’s nuclear program and the issue of U.S. beef imports will top the agenda. Then in Thailand, Bush will draw attention to the repressed citizens in neighboring Myanmar, also called Burma, and reflect on the future of U.S. policy in the Far East.
The heart of the trip is in Beijing, where Bush is to spend four nights and days.
His challenge, like the way he describes the U.S.-China relationship, is complex.
He must remind the world of his oft-stated commitment to freedoms in China, a country his own State Department brands as an authoritarian abuser of the most basic human rights. Yet he wants to avoid showing up the host country, a partner of enormous value to the U.S.
“I’m confident that by showing respect to the people, to the Olympics, it will put me in a position to continue to have frank and candid discussions,” Bush told reporters last week.
He means his talks with China’s president, Hu Jintao. Bush said they have become comfortable, candid and meaningful. In turn, he said he can push Hu privately about the need to expand individual freedoms, something he will do again on this trip. Bush also will attend a church service in Beijing and speak about the importance of religious freedom.
Bush said boycotting the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday — an idea floated after China’s violent crackdown in Tibet — would be an affront to the Chinese people. He said more good comes from going and building respect and trust from the Chinese.
“This is an enormous show of face, gesture of face, from the president to actually go to the Olympics,” said Charles Freeman, a former U.S. trade official on China matters who is now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“This is China’s international coming-out party in many respects, the Olympics. So it’s an enormous thing.”
Highlights of Bush’s week-long Asia trip
Monday: Departs Washington; en route to Seoul, South Korea, stops at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.
Tuesday: Arrives in Seoul.
Wednesday: Meets with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak; travels to Thailand to meet with the prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, in Bangkok.
Thursday: Gives a speech on U.S. policy in East Asia; visits a center that helps children with HIV/AIDS; participates in lunch with activists from Myanmar.
Friday through Sunday: Helps dedicate the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; attends the Olympic Summer Games; meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping.
