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FRANKFURT — Germany rejected calls for a boycott of the Olympics because of China's crackdown in Tibet and pledged to send a team to the Beijing Games.
The German Olympic Sports Union (DOSB) said it was following the events in Tibet with "great attention and concern," and added it was aware that the human rights situation in China was still "unsatisfactory" despite improvements in the last few years.
In a statement issued Monday, the DOSB noted that the United Nations, the German government and the Dalai Lama had spoken out against a boycott of the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.
Some German athletes have reacted to the Chinese crackdown on pro-independence protests in Tibet by supporting calls for a boycott. Others have questioned the wisdom of a boycott.
The DOSB said it would be possible for all German athletes to speak their minds during the Olympics — as long as they stay within the bounds of the Olympic charter.
International Olympic Committee rules state that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues, or other areas."
The DOSB said it had had consulted with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and both were clearly against a boycott, while deploring the human rights situation in China.
The two human rights organizations have been invited to contribute to the information package that the DOSB plans to give all German Olympians. Germany usually sends one of the biggest teams to the Olympics.
On Saturday, the president of the European Parliament said European countries should not rule out threatening China with an Olympic boycott if violence continues in Tibet.
"Beijing must decide itself, it should immediately negotiate with the Dalai Lama," Hans-Gert Poettering told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "If there continue to be no signals of compromise, I see boycott measures as justified."
The DOSB statement said the role of sport was to instigate dialogue and understanding.
"Its job is to build bridges and not erect walls. That's why sport is not a good way of exerting political pressure," the statement said. "Sport is not able to solve problems that neither the United Nations nor governments have not solved despite decades-long efforts."
The German body said it expected China to fulfill its pledge to allow up to 25,000 media representatives to cover the games.
Germany will make its view known to Chinese officials, the statement said.
