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Harper says Olympics boycott would be ineffective
Updated Tue. Apr. 8 2008 8:45 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper brushed off suggestions the federal government is considering a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, dismissing the idea as ineffective.
Harper said a boycott would only serve to harm the athletes who have been training for the Olympics, adding he doesn't expect other countries to opt out of the Games to protest China's human rights record and Tibet policies.
He pointed out that even the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, has not advocated a boycott.
The prime minister is not planning to attend the opening ceremonies in Beijing on Aug. 8, but says he is not doing so out of protest. He told reporters Tuesday that Canada will send a delegation to those ceremonies, but did not specify who would be part of that group.
Yuen Pau Woo, president of the Asia Pacific Foundation, agrees with Harper, saying a boycott of the Olympics could not only be ineffective, but counterproductive. He told CTV Newsnet on Tuesday that international pressure on China is likely to backfire.
"This is a very proud moment for China," he said. "Pouring cold water over its historic hosting of the Olympic Games is going to cause a nationalist reaction that will be negative for Tibet and negative for China's relations with the world."
Woo said the best strategy for Canada would be one of cautious friendship with China, providing guidance without an authoritarian overtone when requested.
"I think the priority... is to establish durable, friendly relations with Beijing of the sort where we can speak very frankly with them about the challenges they are facing and the possible solutions that can be put in place," he said.
"It should be done quietly and with mutual respect rather than through a megaphone. Canada still has the kind of credentials... to be able to send these messages," Woo added.
Unsure future for torch relay
Meanwhile, the Olympic flame arrived in San Francisco early Tuesday amidst discussion on whether the remainder of the torch relay should be cancelled -- a reaction to recent interruptions by pro-Tibet protesters.
Anti-China protesters have disrupted the relay in Paris and London recently and officials in San Francisco are bracing for more demonstrations during the torch run Wednesday.
The International Olympic Committee met in Beijing on Tuesday and expressed concern over the protests, according to CTV's South Asian Bureau Chief Steve Chao.
"They said that these protests have really disrupted the unity of the torch relay," Chao said from Beijing.
IOC president Jacques Rogge later confirmed that the committee's executive board plans to meet again Friday to discuss if the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay should be scrapped.
The committee is also reportedly considering getting rid of the event for future Games.
Rogge refused to say whether a continuation of the international relay was for sure.
"I'm not saying whether it is certain or not. There will be a discussion of the executive board on the torch relay but I attach on that absolutely no speculation whatsoever,'' said Rogge.
Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound said Tuesday he was disappointed that some protesters have resorted to violence.
Pound told CTV's Canada AM that protesters should be "building on" the peaceful nature of the Olympics.
Pound said the protests will spark debate about whether the torch relay should only be conducted within the borders of the host country.
"Flying a flame from London to Paris to San Francisco to Buenos Aires -- I don't think there's much value to be gained from that," he said.
Professor Kevin Wamsley, director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario, said Tuesday that the torch relay will be portrayed differently once it reaches China.
"(The IOC) may decide to cancel the international journey of the torch and then after it gets into China we are going to be restricted with what we can see in terms of the pictures," Wamsley told CTV's Canada AM.
Torch run protests
On Monday, the torch's tumultuous journey through the streets of Paris ended short of its destination amid raucous anti-China protests.
After 28 arrests and at least five stops and starts to the relay, police transported the Olympic torch by vehicle for the last leg of its Parisian journey.
On Sunday, demonstrators tried to extinguish the flame as it passed through London.
Rogge said he was concerned about Wednesday's torch relay in San Francisco.
On Monday, activists scaled San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and hung banners to protest China's human rights record.
The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet," and "Free Tibet 08."
A Vancouver woman, twenty-two year-old Ali Taub, was one of three demonstrators from Students for a Free Tibet who was arrested on the bridge.
The group said they plan to demonstrate peacefully when the relay is held on Wednesday. The torch is currently being hidden at an undisclosed location in San Francisco until tomorrow's relay.
"This is a life or death situation for Tibetans," said Yangchen Lhamo, who is on the board of directors of Students for a Free Tibet.
On Tuesday, a rival torch relay in support of Tibetan independence will be held.
The torch, which arrived in San Francisco early Tuesday, is next scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries. It is to enter mainland China on May 4 for the host country's portion of the relay.
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