Bush pushed to comment on China's record

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- Members of U.S. President George Bush's staff plan to meet with advocacy groups in advance of the president's trip to the Beijing Olympics, officials said.

Bush has been pressured by lawmakers and advocacy groups to make a statement of concern about China's crackdown on human rights and freedoms as China uses the 2008 Summer Games as a showcase.

White House aides said Bush likely will go to church in Beijing during his trip, but the rest of his itinerary is open, The Washington Post reported Monday. He leaves for Beijing next week.

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley has agreed to meet with leaders of the major human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to hear their ideas and concerns,

the groups said.

"That itself is a positive sign," T. Kumar of Amnesty International USA told the Post.

The administration also hinted some more symbolic gestures could happen while Bush is in Beijing. Last month during a meeting with a group of Chinese dissidents at White House, Bush indicated he would have a "message" for the Chinese leadership, said Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, who attended the meeting.

The House may consider a resolution this week that would call on Bush to make a statement of some kind on human rights in China, meet with the families of jailed prisoners of conscience and seek to visit Tibet.