The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has called on President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
In an interview aired Tuesday on ABC television, the California Democrat said she thinks boycotting the opening ceremony, which she said gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table.
She said the president might want to rethink the issue depending on what other heads of state do. Pelosi did not call for a boycott of the full Olympics, saying it is a sporting event that should proceed.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry says any boycott of the Olympics would only undermine the interests of the boycotting nation. President Bush has said he plans to attend the August games.
Pelosi was recently in India, where she met with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and urged the world to denounce China's crackdown on Tibetan protesters
Some information for this report was provided by AP , ABC and Reuters.