American Protests Lodged Over Snub to Athlete-Activist
by Josh Gerstein
Wed, 6 Aug 2008 at 12:58 PM
The American Embassy in Beijing has contacted China to express "concern" about the cancellation and denial of visas for members of Team Darfur, a group of athletes campaigning against the violence in Sudan's Dafur region. On Tuesday, an American former Olympian, William "Joey" Cheek, said he received a phone call from a Chinese official who said the former athlete's visa to China had been revoked. Mr. Cheek had planned to leave Washington for Beijing today.
"We're aware of reports that the Chinese government has denied or revoked visas for American Citizen members of Team Darfur," an American Embassy spokesman, Richard Buangan, said in an e-mail to The New York Sun. "We've expressed our concern to PRC authorities that American citizen legitimate travelers are being denied permission to travel to China," he wrote.
The White House press secretary, Dana Perino, used somewhat stronger language to protest the revocation of Mr. Cheek's visa. "We are disturbed to learn that the Chinese had refused his visa," she told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Bush made his way to Thailand en route to Beijing for the opening of the Games. "We are taking the matter very seriously. We have sent in our embassy in Beijing to demarche the Chinese....We would hope that they would change their mind."
The embassy's action came after American Olympic officials said they had contacted the diplomatic mission to seek more information about Mr. Cheek's predicament. At a news briefing today, top leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee expressed disappointment at the snub, but did so in language that was notably muted, especially when compared with the effusive praise the officials offered for Beijing's Olympic preparations and hospitality.
"Obviously, he's a great Olympic champion. He's not part of our delegation," the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, James Scherr, said. "It is unfortunate… but I think that's between the government and Joey as a private citizen who'd trying to make his way to these Games."
Only after the formal news briefing had concluded did the American team leaders indicate that they had lodged an inquiry with the American government about the matter.
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