Obama says he's conflicted on Olympics

U.S. participation questioned because of China's human rights record

Video

Curry interviews Obama
April 1: TODAY's Ann Curry spends a day on the campaign trail with Barack Obama and sits down with him to talk about the tight race with Hillary Clinton.

Today show

EPA	Road to the nomination Sen. Barack Obama becomes the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
	Cartoons: Obama MSNBC.com's editorial cartoonists weigh in on Obama's candidacy.
Polaris	Slide show: A call to serve Sen. Barack Obama answers the call to public service.

Slide show

Image: Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama

Race for the presidency
The trips, the speeches, and the moments of Decision ’08. A look at the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain.

more photos

updated 9:27 a.m. ET April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama said he is conflicted about whether the U.S. should be a full participant in this summer's Olympics in Beijing because of China's human rights record.

"I am of two minds about this," the Democratic presidential hopeful said in an interview aired Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show." "On the one hand, I think that what has happened in Tibet, China's support for the Sudanese government in Darfur, is a real problem."

Still, Obama said, "I am hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest because I think it's partly about bringing the world together."

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Obama also expressed concern about Chinese trade practices.

"I am a strong believer in free trade, but I think that we have not been very savvy negotiators when it comes to China," Obama said. "I think they've played us. They definitely are stealing our intellectual property, and that has direct consequences in terms of the bottom lines for businesses here in the United States."

Tibetans frustrated with Chinese rule rioted in the streets of Lhasa on March 14, and protests then spread to other parts of China. The Chinese government says 22 people died in violence; Tibetan exiles say the violence and a harsh crackdown afterward left nearly 140 people dead.

The events called attention to Beijing's human rights record in the Himalayan region at a time when Chinese leaders had hoped for a peaceful run-up to the Olympics.

Click for related content

9/11 panel vice chair to endorse Obama
Bush should weigh skipping Olympics opener
Clinton proposing plan to keep jobs in U.S.
McCain compiles list of running mates
Newsvine Politics

On Tuesday, 15 House members urged President Bush to reconsider his decision to attend the Beijing Olympics. Their letter cited the crackdown in Tibet, the Beijing government's close economic ties with the government of Sudan and recent suppression of religious and human rights advocates.

In February, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic adviser to the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies over China's support for the Sudan government.

Picking the president: The candidates
Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed.

John McCain
Barack Obama