Bush to attend Olympic ceremonies

President Bush on Thursday put to rest any questions about whether he will attend the opening ceremonies at the summer Olympics in China.

The president and the first lady will travel to Korea, Thailand and China in August, and they will attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Games on Aug. 8, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

{mosads}Bush is “going to China to support first and foremost our athletes; he sees this as a sporting competition,” Perino said. “But at the same time, just as he will this week when he sees President Hu, he will talk to him about these important issues of human rights and especially religious freedom.”

Bush accepted an invitation to attend the Olympics from China’s president last year, but had been vague over whether he would attend the opening ceremonies.

Several other world leaders are seriously considering calls from a number of human rights groups to boycott of the ceremonies to protest China’s treatment of Tibet and other human rights issues.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week that his attendance would depend on the results of talks between Chinese officials and representatives of the Dalai Lama.