World leaders quash qualms, go to Olympic opening

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Deadly riots and a crackdown on protests in Tibet in March turned the opening ceremony invitation into a political hot potato for leaders of major democracies. Tales of abused Tibetan monks reminded governments worldwide of the qualms many had over granting Beijing the Games in the first place.

Sarkozy was the first leader to threaten a boycott, urging talks between China and representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. That threat, followed by the Olympic torch relay through Paris streets packed with protesters, prompted a backlash by Chinese consumers and bloggers against France.

French desires to cool those tensions and to sell Airbus planes and nuclear equipment to Chinese customers eventually persuaded Sarkozy to climb down.

"Commercial and political reality took hold," said Don Paal, China specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. "Knowing that the Chinese would take stock of those decisions ... very few statesmen could avoid showing up."

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a fluent Chinese speaker is heading to Beijing after raising Chinese ire by suggesting in March that leaders there should engage more with the Dalai Lama. He kept up the pressure on a visit the next month in Beijing. But China's and Australia's economies are increasingly linked, and Rudd has said does not believe in boycotting the Olympics.

Bush decided to attend the opening ceremonies, too, saying it would be an "affront to the Chinese people" if he stayed away.

The president of the European Parliament is among the few who have announced a formal boycott of the opening ceremony. Hans-Gert Poettering said he would skip the ceremony because of a lack of progress in talks between China and the Dalai Lama's representatives.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will only attend the closing ceremony and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said, repeatedly, that the opening ceremony conflicts with her vacation.

Other leaders were glad to accept the invitation and hope to gain political and economic mileage from increasingly mighty China out of making the journey to Beijing.

"The Chinese leadership has signaled that coming earns points for the countries concerned," Paal said.

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