Mayor Praises Bush's Handling of Olympics

President Bush is winning praise from Mayor Bloomberg for his handling of the Beijing Olympics.

Mr. Bush, who is attending the opening ceremonies for the games on Friday, delivered a speech yesterday in which he said China's citizens "deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings" and rebuked the Chinese government for silencing political opposition.

"I thought the president of the United States stood up this morning and said what a lot of Americans believe: that individual rights aren't as open there as they are in America and that they should be," Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday at a press conference in Lower Manhattan. "I thought the president should go to the opening games — he is going to go. I thought he should speak out, and he did, and I was pleased to see that."

Mr. Bloomberg, who visited China last year, said he would not attend the games.