Will Olympics Foster Human Rights in China?
WOODRUFF: We promised you a discussion on the upcoming vote tomorrow by the International Olympic Committee and whether to grant China the 2008 games. But we're going to wait a moment and do that and first go to our Candy Crowley who's back here with me. Candy, they're voting on the floor. What's going on?</s>CROWLEY: Well, we got a vote. This may be the start or the end of it. The bets are that what's happening here is they are taking a vote on the rules, that is under what rules do you debate, you know, what amendments will be brought up, how long you debate, and you know, how many votes there are. So they're voting on the rules. The Democrats don't like them. Democrats say, "We have enough Republicans. We have enough Republicans to kill the rule." If and should that happen, Republicans have said, "Fine, then that's it for the bill." Now, they can get a discharge petition, the Democrats can. But that's going to take some time. And what it really means is that for now, campaign finance reform would get pulled off the floor, we'd probably revisit it come fall and you hear a lot of screaming.</s>WOODRUFF: Reform in the form that John McCain and Shays-Meehan wanted?</s>CROWLEY: Yes, yes, absolutely.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, Candy Crowley. We'll certainly come back to you for an update before this hour is over. As we promised a moment ago, the debate over the Olympic Committee vote tomorrow. Members of the committee are in Moscow right now to choose a host city for the 2008 summer games. This is the last big IOC meeting for Juan Antonio Samaranch, who is retiring after 21 years as committee president. Beijing is considered the favorite among the five cities competing to host the games, but human rights activists and some members of Congress have lobbied IOC members to vote against Beijing. The debate over Beijing's bid mirrors the political debate right here in Washington over U.S. relations with China. And joining me now with a view on tomorrow's vote, James Lilly, who is the former U.S. ambassador to China. We are also going to be joined by Democratic congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California, but she's over there on the House floor doing what Candy Crowley was just telling us about, and that is voting on campaign finance reform. So Ambassador Lilley, I'm going to turn it to you. You're going to have the floor all to yourself. When -- let me just ask you first, when the White House announced that it was not going to take a position on this, did that in effect give a green light to the IOC to say yes to Beijing?</s>JAMES LILLEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: No, it doesn't. It says that the United States, unlike what we did last time, is we're not going to take a position. Last time, as you know, the Chinese lost by two votes. They blamed it on us. They turned very mean, racist propaganda. These dinosaurs turned out all this invective against us. We don't have to appease these people, but you don't gratuitously insult them. This should be decided on the basis of the facilities. Do the Chinese have the clean air? Do they have the room? Can they handle the media? Is the traffic manageable? If they can do it and they're the best at it, give them the Olympics. The fact that they're getting it has a political cut to it. It's a double-edged sword. Negatively, it feeds their nationalistic fervor. It can turn them into nationalistic fanatics. On the other hand, it could open up their whole system to close scrutiny, and this will make it much harder for them to crack down. So I would say on balance, it's probably going to be a positive thing for China and for the world.</s>WOODRUFF: Well, you already moved into answering the question I wanted to ask you, but let me just put it out there about human rights. I'm sure you are aware the new Amnesty International report shows that China executed more people in the last three months, something like 1,780 people, than it executed in the past three years. Why is giving the Games to China going to be an incentive for them to improve this human rights record?</s>LILLEY: I don't think there's a connection. I'm sorry to say that, but I don't think there's a connection between their executions and winning the Olympics. The decision was made a long time ago that China would be part of the international community. The U.N., the World Trade Organization, the WHO, World Health Organization, and the Olympics -- they're part of the community, like it or not. You judge it on the ability of China to perform what the committee demands of them. That they have a poor human rights record, there is no question. I was there at Tiananmen, I know this personally. They have shot these people, they have a strike-hard campaign, they are trying to stop corruption, they are doing it by Draconian means; this is the way they handle things. To change this or to alter it or influence it, you bring them into the world, you expose them for the rule of law, you expose the executions and this has an influence for sure over time.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, former...</s>LILLEY: One more thing Judy. There probably won't be war before 2008, either.</s>WOODRUFF: They're probably what, sir?</s>LILLEY: There probably will not be war in the Taiwan Strait before the year 2008; that gives us a seven-year period.</s>WOODRUFF: Well, that opens up a whole new set of issues we don't have time to get into now, but let me just thank you, former U.S. Ambassador to China James Lilley. As I said, we were to be joined by California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. She was called on the floor of the House to vote on campaign finance reform. Ambassador Lilley, thanks for being with us.</s>LILLEY: Thank you.</s>WOODRUFF: A quick reminder: CNN plans live coverage of tomorrow's announcement of the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Our coverage begins tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. The president and the polls. Is Mr. Bush gaining or losing ground with the American people? We've got some new numbers when INSIDE POLITICS returns. And are Americans divided over stem cell research? A look at public opinion and political realities coming up.