Olympics 'worsening China rights'

By BBC News
02 April 2008

According to Amnesty International, China is clamping down on dissent in a bid to portray a stable and harmonious image ahead of the Games in August.

It urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world leaders to speak out against abuses, including China's handling of protests in Tibet.

US President George W Bush is facing calls to boycott the Games' opening.

"It would be clearly inappropriate for you to attend the Olympic Games in China, given the increasingly repressive nature of that country's government," a group of 15 US politicians wrote in a letter to Mr Bush on Tuesday.

Mr Bush has said he plans to attend the ceremony but Germany's Angela Merkel says she will not. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out a boycott.

An IOC team is currently in Beijing to assess its readiness for the Games.

'Beyond reach'

In a report entitled China: The Olympics Countdown, the London-based group said the Olympics had failed to act as a catalyst for reform in China.

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