Zeman condemns boycotting of Winter Olympics in China

Czech President Miloš Zeman has spoken out against the boycotting of the Winter Olympics in China by politicians from some states. In an address to the Czech team for the Games, which begin in Beijing on February 4, he said he was deeply against the misuse of the Olympic ideal for political purposes.

He said the planned boycotting of the Beijing Games was a milder form of what had occurred at the Moscow and LA Games, as this time only politicians, not athletes, were staying away.

The Czech ambassador to Beijing, Vladimír Tomšík, relayed Mr. Zeman’s support for the Games in an interview in China late last year. He was later reprimanded by the new Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, who said such views were at odds with a planned revision of Czech policy toward the country.