A call for the New Zealand Government to boycott the Olympic opening ceremony has catapulted New Zealand into the spotlight of the political debate surrounding the August games.
Green MP Keith Locke wrote to Prime Minister Helen Clark last week urging her not to send New Zealand representatives.
"I have written to Helen Clark asking her to advise the Governor-General Anand Satyanand and Sport Minister Clayton Cosgrove to cancel their plans to attend the opening ceremony," Mr Locke, the Green's Foreign Affairs Spokesperson said. He has not received a response.
Mr Locke said he supports the Dalai Lama's approach of using the occasion to highlight China's abysmal human rights record and try to get some improvement.
His call comes on the heels of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announcing he will stay away from the opening ceremony. The German, Czech and Polish Prime Ministers have already said they won't go, and the French leader has not yet decided. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he will not be able to attend due to a scheduling conflict, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Tutu is advocating a ceremony boycott by all leaders.
"However, the opening ceremony provides a golden opportunity for democratic governments to make a strong statement about their unhappiness with China's treatment of the Tibetan people."
Mr Locke said he and the Green Party would continue to push the issue "one way or another. We obviously have a lot of time up our sleeves... it is just the beginning of the campaign."
A spokesperson for the Sports Minister said Clayton Cosgrove has been invited to both the opening and closing ceremonies.
"I don't think he has decided which one to go to yet – but it might be the closing one anyway," the spokesperson said, citing a scheduling preference. She said the Sport's Minister's focus is about helping the athletes, supporting them to do the best they can, and help bring medals home.
The spokesperson did not want to comment on other issues such as human rights and the Tibet issue.
Friends of Tibet chairman in New Zealand Thuten Kesang said he supported Mr Locke's call for a government boycott of the opening ceremony. His message to the New Zealand athletes is to "be truthful and say what you think".
The Chinese regime's Olympic torch run has been marred by protests in London, Paris and San Fransisco, with expectations of large protests in New Delhi on the April 17 and Canberra on April 24.
Mr Kesang said China had suspected there would be protests during the relay.
"We must show to the world that all is not right in China or Tibet. This is was not a 'torch of harmony' because of the illegal occupation of Tibet by China," Mr Kesang said.
Double Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd said last month that he would consider some type of protest if selected for the Beijing Games.
The five-time Olympic medallist told the Christchurch Press that he would certainly protest if he was named in the Olympic team: "Absolutely. I think athletes in general would be obliged to do something like that."
Feeds