Charles shuns Beijing Games opening

12 April 2012

The Prince of Wales has told the Free Tibet campaign group he will not be attending the opening ceremony of this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, a spokesman for the group said.

Free Tibet, which campaigns against human rights abuses in the Chinese province, said it wrote to Charles, an outspoken supporter of the Dalai Lama, urging him not to attend the games.

In response, it received a letter from his deputy private secretary, Clive Alderton, confirming the Prince would not attend the opening ceremony.

He wrote: "As you know, His Royal Highness has long taken a close interest in Tibet and indeed has been pleased to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama on several occasions.

"You asked if the Prince of Wales would be attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His Royal Highness will not be attending the ceremony."

A spokesman for Free Tibet said: "We welcome the fact that the Prince of Wales will not be endorsing China's ongoing human rights' abuses in Tibet by attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and we are calling on other high-profile public figures and politicians to follow suit.

"Human rights abuses in Tibet have worsened since China was awarded the games in 2001. These games will come to be known as the Games of Shame."

The news will come as a blow to British government efforts to build economic and cultural ties with the Chinese, most recently with a visit by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a delegation of British business figures.

Charles has frequently made public his support for the Dalai Lama, whom he has met on numerous occasions.

It was his friendship with the exiled Tibetan leader which led him to miss out the main banquet during Chinese president Jiang Zemin's visit to the UK in 1999.

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