Most MPs have no objection to prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing, NOS tv reports on Wednesday.

In particular, the orthodox Christian party ChristenUnie, which is part of the current coalition government, wanted the government to refuse to go to China because of the country’s human rights record.
However, the four biggest parties in parliament all see no reason to stop the prime minister from attending, NOS says. No formal decision has yet been taken on whether the prime minister will go.