Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and State Secretary for Sports Jet Bussemaker intend to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on Aug. 8, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen told Dutch lawmakers on Wednesday.
During a debate on China in the lower house of the Dutch parliament, Verhagen said the whole cabinet backs the ministers' plan to attend the opening ceremony, the Dutch news agency ANP reported.
Earlier in the day, the major parties in the lower house of parliament voiced support for Balkenende to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. This means that an overwhelming majority of the lower house supports the head of the government to attend the opening ceremony.
Two ruling parties, the Christian Democrats and the Labor Party, and three opposition parties -- the Socialist Party, the Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Party for Freedom -- all agreed that an absence from the opening ceremony would have a negative impact on dialogue with China.
But the Christian Union, the smallest of the three coalition partners, wanted the government to refuse to go to China.
(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2008)