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Fukuda to call for successful Olympics at G-8 summit: lawmaker
Asian Political News, April 21, 2008
BEIJING, April 15 Kyodo
A senior Japanese lawmaker said Tuesday he told Chinese officials that Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda plans to call on his Group of Eight counterparts for their cooperation in making the Beijing Olympics a success when they gather for their summit in July.
Bummei Ibuki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, also said he urged China to boost transparency over its handling of last month's violence in Tibet, and to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader.
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Ibuki, who is in China as part of a ruling coalition delegation which also includes his counterpart from the New Komeito party, met separately with State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department.
''I believe Prime Minister Fukuda plans to call on the leaders at the G-8 summit to make the Olympics that are being staged in Asia a success,'' Ibuki told reporters.
Japan is the host of the upcoming summit to be held in the Lake Toya resort area in Hokkaido Prefecture. The meeting will bring together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Ibuki also said he ''asked for the further disclosure of information on the Tibet situation, and expressed hope for a peaceful solution to the issue, through dialogue with the Dalai Lama.''
Wang told the Japanese lawmakers that while Tibet and the Olympics are two separate issues, they have been linked because of a ''plot by those who moved to connect those two issues,'' according to Ibuki.
But Wang did say he will take Ibuki's advice on more openness regarding Tibet ''as a well-intended proposal,'' he said.
China maintains that the unrest that erupted in Tibet last month was masterminded by the Dalai Lama. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has denied any such involvement.
The Olympic torch lighting ceremony last month, as well as the torch relay which followed it, have been disrupted by demonstrations against China's policies on issues ranging from Tibet to Darfur.
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