British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided to skip the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, but not for political reasons, his spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Brown has been under intense pressure from human rights activists to skip the Aug. 8 ceremony as a symbolic condemnation of China's crackdown on Tibet protesters.

But Brown's spokeswoman said the decision not to attend the opening ceremony is not a boycott. She said he made up his mind weeks ago, but the news was only made public Wednesday.

"He had never planned to attend," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity, as is government policy. "There is absolutely no change in our position."

While Brown will not attend the opening ceremony, he will be present for the closing ceremony on Aug. 24, she said.

But the leader of the Liberal Democrats, one of Britain's opposition parties, called Brown's decision a "last-minute U-turn."

"[He] seems to do the right thing late in the day, when he is forced to do so because of public opinion," Nick Clegg said, according to BBC News and Britain's Channel Four News.

The BBC reported that Brown has never specifically said he would attend the opening ceremony, although he has twice talked of attending "ceremonies."

"We will not be boycotting the Olympic Games; Britain will be attending the Olympic Games ceremonies," he said March 27.

He made a similar statement April 1.

EU ponders boycott motion

The news came as the European Parliament pondered a motion urging European countries to boycott the ceremony, unless Chinese authorities begin talks with the Dalai Lama.

The motion, which is non-binding, stems from China's crackdown in Tibet after violent protests against Chinese rule broke out last month.

"There is this growing momentum to send some sort of signal to China," CBC's David Common said.

The resolution, which was obtained by Reuters, says:

"The European Parliament calls on the EU presidency in office to strive to find a common EU position with regard to attendance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with the option of non-attendance in the event if there is no resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and His Holiness the Dalai Lama."  

Common said the motion is expected to pass.

The European Parliament — the only directly elected body of the European Union — consists of 785 members who are elected once every five years by voters across the 27 member states of the EU.

The United Kingdom is part of the EU.

Sarkozy considers boycott

China has blamed the Dalai Lama and the "Dalai clique" for orchestrating the protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. But the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has denied claims he instigated the violence.

He has said he would be willing to meet with Chinese leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao. China has said the door is open to talks but only if the Dalai Lama recognizes Tibet as part of China and gives up his separatist activities.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that he would consider boycotting the ceremony unless Chinese authorities began speaking to the Dalai Lama.

U.S. President George W. Bush is planning to attend the ceremony, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will skip the opening.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will not attend but that he never planned to and that Ottawa will send a high-level delegation to the ceremony.

The EU motion comes as San Francisco braces for anti-China demonstrations as the Olympic torch relay make its only North American stop in the city.

In Toronto, around 300 protesters gathered at the Chinese consulate.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen Buddhist monks staged a protest Wednesday in front of visiting journalists at a monastery in western China, calling for human rights and the return of the Dalai Lama, according to witnesses.

The latest protest came as Tibet's governor promised "severe" punishment against any independence activists who disrupt the Olympic torch relay when it passes through the Himalayan region on its way to Mount Everest next month.

The monks shouted slogans in Tibetan in an outer courtyard as journalists entered a prayer hall at the Labrang monastery in Xiahe in western Gansu province, which borders Tibet.

With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press