UK's Brown to skip Olympics opening

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will skip the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.He became the second major world leader after German Chancellor Angela Merkel to decide to stay away from the opening ceremonies,although Brown's office insisted Wednesday that he was not boycotting the Olympics and would attend the closing ceremony.

However,his spokeswoman said that his decision not to attend the opening ceremony is not an act of protest.She said the decision was made weeks ago and was not a stand on principle.Another world leader who may not be attending the opening ceremony as well is French President Nicolas Sarkozy.He has not made up his mind yet.He just said last month that he was debating not attending the opening ceremony.Sarkozy like Chancellor Merkel has been taking a tough stance on China's human rights policy and its actions in Tibet and have not been afraid to express their true feelings about how China has been handling the situation.As for President Bush,I doubt he will skip the opening ceremony but he has been presurized by many people in the country to give it a miss,which includes U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and just recently,Barack Obama as well.Obama said a boycott “should be firmly on the table,” but that a decision should be made closer to the Games.Obama previously had said he was conflicted about U.S. participation,but that “there should be consequences” for China if it does not take steps to respect rights and freedoms in Tibet.The Republican presidential nominee,John McCain meanwhile have a slightly different view.He is quoted as saying that he condemns “the brutal oppression” the Chinese have inflicted on Tibetans,and thinks the president should monitor the situation and “keep his options open.”

China's image has already been dealt with a huge blow with the current protests that has been going on during the Olympic torch relay,and it doesn't help much with two major world leaders expressing their decision not to attend the opening ceremony with possibly,more to come.I think that PM Brown's decision not to attend the opening ceremony was based on China's stand on things and not because of what he has said and I think President Sarkozy will be skipping the ceremony as well.If President Bush does the same thing,then China would be really embarrass.Why not? Its the Olympics,probably the biggest sporting event in the world.For me,I think the opening ceremony is much more important and significant than the closing ceremony.You want to show the world what you can do and give them a good impression on your country but if some of the major world leaders refuse to attend,that would be really disappointing.But like I have said many many times,sports and politics should not go together,China has put a lot of work in organising the event,so i think it would be appropriate for the world leaders to attend the opening ceremony to show their appreciation.Apart from that,Ive nothing to add on.