Friday, July 04, 2008

Face Time

He’s done a lot of bad shit while in office, but I completely support President Bush over his China policies.

President Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing, the White House said Thursday, quashing any talk of a presidential boycott over China’s violent crackdown on Buddhist monks.

The White House had been reluctant to confirm Bush’s plans for the opening event, although there was no doubt he would attend the Olympic Games. While other world leaders have talked of boycotting the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies, Bush’s aides have signaled for weeks he was unlikely to do so.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush will travel in August to South Korea, Thailand and China and will attend the opening ceremonies of the games with first lady Laura Bush. The specific dates of travel were not released.

And here’s the important part.

In China, Bush will meet with President Hu Jintao. A key focus will be the six-country effort to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons capability. Then the president and the first lady will attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, Perino said.

That’s the clincher.  If we want to get something from the Chinese we can’t very well ask them to do so after we’ve shown them such a loss of face on the world stage.

Critics of China have said if Bush were to avoid the opening ceremony, it would send a powerful signal of international anger over China’s violent response to demonstrating Buddhist monks in Tibet in March.

No it wouldn’t.  In a country with a free press, where people are subject to a group of divergent opinions, it may have a powerful impact.  In China, where the government controls the media, it will be spun as “Barbarian foreigners refuse to show China the respect it deserves.”