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French to boycott opening?
24/03/2008 14:30 - (SA)
Paris - Most French want their leaders to stay away from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games over China's human rights record, but oppose a sporting boycott, according to two published polls.
A CSA poll of 959 French respondents for media pressure group Reporters sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) gave 53 percent backing for a boycott by French President Nicolas Sarkozy "to protest the human rights situation in China." But 42 percent of those polled opposed the idea.
On the question of an actual sporting boycott by the nation's athletes, 55 percent opposed the idea, while 41 percent were in favour.
A poll 1,007 French respondents by the Ifop institute for L'Equipe sports newspaper registered similar results.
In this poll, 54 percent backed a snub of the opening ceremony by the country's leaders while 45 percent opposed it.
And while 60 percent opposed a sporting a boycott by athletes, with 39 percent in favour, the same poll registered 55 percent backing for some kind of protest by French athletes at the Games against China's human rights record; 45 percent were opposed.
The Ifop poll also showed 84 percent support for a change in the charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to stop countries with poor human rights records from hosting the Games (16 percent opposed the idea).
And 68 percent believed IOC chief Jacques Rogge should publicly condemn China over its human rights record, against 32 percent who disagreed.
The crackdown by Chinese forces on Tibet and nearby provinces where protests have taken place over Beijing's 57-year rule of the remote Himalayan region have sparked demonstrations in several European cities.
The CSA poll was carried on March 19 and 20, while the Ifop poll was done between March 20 and 21.
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