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Bush Meets With Japan's Fukuda Ahead of G-8 Summit - washingtonpost.com

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Starting Monday, Bush and his counterparts will wade into a thicket of complex and contentious global issues, from climate change and assistance to Africa to the escalating cost of food and the international economic crisis.

But Sunday was devoted to calming relations with Japan, the most important U.S. ally in Asia. Those ties have been strained in recent weeks by the president's decision to take North Korea off the official U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, a move that came as part of a deal aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Human rights advocates and those seeking more pressure on China to help resolve the crisis in Darfur have urged Bush to stay away from the opening ceremonies. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will not attend opening ceremonies and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is also threatening to boycott.

Bush said Sunday that staying away from the ceremony would be "an affront to the Chinese people, which may make it more difficult to . . . be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"I view the Olympics as a opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes," Bush said. "I had the honor of dealing with the Chinese -- two Chinese presidents during my term, and every time I have visited with them I have talked about religious freedom and human rights. . . . I guess I don't need the Olympics to express my concerns. I've been doing so."
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