INQUIRER Sports

OSLO -- Norway is considering boycotting the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games to protest China's crackdown in Tibet, the Norwegian minister in charge of sports, Trond Giske, said Thursday.

"I'm wondering if we should have political representation there. Not attending would send a clear signal, and the threat from several countries of not going could force the Chinese authorities to act," Giske told NRK public radio.

As Norway's minister of cultural and Church affairs, who is in charge of sports, Giske had been expected to represent the Scandinavian country at the opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8.

Norway's royal couple is also scheduled to attend the ceremony.

The Chinese authorities "want the Games to succeed and they can achieve that goal if they listen closely to the message the international community is giving them," Giske said.

"It is still too early to decide" whether or not to boycott the ceremony, Giske said, adding that "we have to see how things evolve in China from now until August."

Calls for a boycott of the Olympic Games, or at least the opening ceremony, arose following the recent violence in Tibet.

Beijing says rioters killed 18 innocent civilians and two police officers during the unrest that began on March 10, while exiled Tibetan leaders have put the Tibetan death toll from the Chinese crackdown at 140, with many more injured and detained.

Amnesty International warned Tuesday that China's human rights record was getting worse because of, not despite, the looming Olympics, and on Thursday high-profile rights activist Hu Jia was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for subversion.

"It is very clear that certain things are headed in the wrong direction" in China, Giske said.

"On the other hand, some things have gotten better in recent years," he said, referring to China's declining poverty level and wider distribution of information technologies.