Elder Bush: Keep politics out of Olympics

WASHINGTON-- Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush said politics should be kept out of the Olympics and he is not sympathetic to those who try to spoil the Olympic Games.

"Keep the politics out of the Olympics. I am not sympathetic to those who would try to embarrass China, try to spoil the Games or try to make political hay out of the Olympics," he told the USA Today in an interview published Monday.

Bush, who is visiting Beijing as the honorary chef de mission of the U.S. Olympic team, also said it is good that the Olympics finally landed in China. "People see China. They get a glimpse into China. The coverage might dispel some myths about China," he said.

Asked about whether there was an Olympic event he thought he'd be good at, Bush said "Possibly baseball."

The former president, still in pretty good shape at the age of 84, said he will make another skydiving on his 85th birthday. Bush was chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing in the mid-1970s, and has visited China for many times. He met with the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, along with son and current President George W. Bush, before last Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The former president also attended swimming event, where Michael Phelps set a world record, and a basketball game between the United States and China. He hopes to sit in on gymnastics before ending his week-long stay Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua