Keep politics out of Olympics: elder Bush
12/8/2008 17:06
Former US president George H.W. Bush said politics should be kept out of
the Olympics and he is not sympathetic to those who try to spoil the Olympic
Games.
"Keep the politics out of the Olympics. I am not sympathetic to those
who would try to embarrass China, try to spoil the Games or try to make
political hay out of the Olympics," he told the USA Today in an interview
published yesterday.
Bush, who is visiting Beijing as the honorary chef de
mission of the US Olympic team, also said it is good that the Olympics finally
landed in China. "People see China. They get a glimpse into China. The coverage
might dispel some myths about China," he said.
Asked about whether there was
an Olympic event he thought he'd be good at, Bush said "Possibly
baseball."
The former president, still in pretty good shape at the age of 84,
said he will make another skydiving on his 85th birthday. Bush was chief of the
US Liaison Office in Beijing in the mid-1970s, and has visited China for many
times. He met with the US Olympic team in Beijing, along with son and current
President George W. Bush, before last Friday's opening ceremony of the
Beijing
Olympics.
The former president also attended swimming event, where
Michael Phelps set a world record, and a basketball game between the United
States and China. He hopes to sit in on gymnastics before ending his week-long
stay tomorrow.
Xinhua
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