Berlin - Neither German Chancellor Angela Merkel nor her foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will attend the opening ceremony for this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, aides said Friday. Their plans have been closely watched amid Western dismay at the Chinese crackdown on protests in Tibet.
"I can confirm that Merkel never had any intention of being a guest at the Olympics, either at the opening ceremony or at the sporting events," said deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg in Berlin.
Steinmeier told reporters in Brdo, Slovenia, where he was meeting with other European Union foreign ministers, that he would not be attending the Games. He said he had never planned to attend, "so there was nothing to cancel," he said.
"How the other leaders were planning to deal with this, I cannot say," he added.
