More than 100 foreign heads of state or government leaders have indicated they will attend the Beijing Olympics, a top Chinese diplomat said Monday. "The figure is still on the rise every day," Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Most were expected to be in Beijing for the August 8 opening ceremony. US President George W. Bush last month said he would attend the Games despite the sensitive issue of the bloodshed in the Sudanese region of Darfur, with Beijing a close Khartoum ally. According to the semi-official China News agency, Wu Monday criticised a US congressman opposed to US officials attending the "genocide Olympics" at the taxpayers' expense.
"It is unbelievable that anyone so stupid and who speaks so thoughtlessly could become a member of the American Congress. He surely has never been to China or Sudan and perhaps does not even have a passport," said the diplomat, who is also China's envoy to the North Korean nuclear disarmament talks.
The agency did not identify the target of Wu's criticism. US film director Steven Spielberg last month withdrew his services as an advisor to the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies because China refused to put pressure on the Sudanese government. China is a major economic partner of Sudan and its ties to Khartoum are seen as hindering international efforts to pressure the Sudanese government over Darfur.