Berlin - Boycotts and protests in Olympic areas are not the right way to deal with China at the Beijing Games, Olympic top official Thomas Bach said in an interview published on Wednesday. Bach told Germany's Tagesspiegel daily that isolating China was the wrong way to deal with the Tibet unrest and the human rights situation in general in the world's most populous country.
"Sport can not be misused as a political baton. A boycott would be counterproductive for any aim," said Bach, a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee and head of the German Olympic Committee.
"If the Games are cancelled our boycotted the world's spotlight on China would be switched off again. No one can want that."
Bach said that the IOC can not take a political role and put more pressure on China.
"The IOC neither claims nor has the mandate to be a world government. The Olympic Charter is not a constitution for the whole world. All we can do is regulate how sports can support human rights," said Bach.
Bach said that any athlete has to right to express him- or herself during the August 8-24 Games, but within the Olympic rules which forbid political statements and protests in Olympic areas (Article 61 of Olympic Charter).
This also forbids protests of athletes or politicians at the opening ceremony.
"The Games must be politically neutral. That is their nature. After all, we also don't want athletes to carry portraits of their political leaders through the stadium at the opening ceremony or that dictatorships promote themselves," said Bach.
