McCain Calls on Bush to Boycott Olympic Ceremonies

April 11, 2008 — -- If you missed him on "The View," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it again Thursday: If he were president he would not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics unless China backed away from its crackdown on protests and protesters in Tibet.

In a written statement, McCain went a step further, this time going beyond his own actions and calling on President Bush to "evaluate his participation in the ceremonies surrounding the Olympics and, based on Chinese actions, decide whether it is appropriate to attend."

"If Chinese policies and practices do not change, I would not attend the opening ceremonies. It does no service to the Chinese government, and certainly no service to the people of China, for the United States and other democracies to pretend that the suppression of rights in China does not concern us. It does, will and must concern us," McCain said.

His latest comment appears to urge the president to stay away not just from the opening ceremony but from any of the Olympic ceremonies. That would go beyond what he said on "The View" when he said, "Unless they change something pretty quickly, I would not go to the opening ceremonies."

In his new statement, McCain elaborated on his reasoning.

"Our relationship with China is important, and we value our ability to cooperate with the Chinese government on a wide variety of strategic, economic and diplomatic fronts," he said. "But the Chinese government needs to understand that in our modern world, how a nation treats its citizens is a legitimate subject of international concern. ... I deplore the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities and the continuing oppression in Tibet of those merely wishing to practice their faith and preserve their culture and heritage."

McCain called on the Chinese to open talks with the Dalai Lama, to release Tibetan monks who have been jailed for protesting and "to allow full outside access to Tibet."

When McCain delivered a comprehensive speech on foreign policy March 26 in Los Angeles, he did not mention the protests that had recently broken out in Tibet.

His position that he would would not attend the Olympics ceremony is in line with his Democratic rivals and puts him at odds with Bush who told ABC News' Martha Raddatz Friday that he still intends to attend the Beijing games.

"My plans haven't changed," he said. Going to the Olympics, he said shows "I'm supporting our athletes. ... And I don't view the Olympics as a political event. I view it as a sporting event."

McCain subtly moved away from the Republican incumbent in other ways this week.

The plan he unveiled for helping homeowners in danger of losing their houses to foreclosure goes beyond what the president has advocated. The McCain Home program would offer an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners a chance to refinance their mortgages at a lower, more affordable rate with the federal government guaranteeing the new loan. The price tag has been estimated at $3 billion to $10 billion.

The plan goes further than anything the White House has put forward. It is also a shift from McCain's position on the housing crisis last month when he said: "It is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers." A McCain adviser said some homeowners facing unaffordable payments because their mortgages adjusted upward would qualify under his proposal.

McCain also called on the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal wrongdoing, including lenders and those involved in securing loans.

In the same speech — delivered in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Republican candidates rarely venture — McCain said the federal government should stop buying oil to add to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because of the current high cost. He said the move could also help dampen the rising cost of oil, although his economic advisers said later it would have only a minimal effect on the cost of a barrel of crude. Bush wants to boost the SPR to provide an added cushion against an energy cost, such as a cutoff of exports from a major producer.

Each of this positions taken alone are minor variances with administration policy or positions. Viewed together, they could signal moves by McCain to further separate himself from an unpopular president and deflect the Democratic charge that a McCain administration would amount to little more than a third Bush term.