An overwhelming majority of British people have rejected calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, according to a survey published in Friday's Guardian.

The poll of 1,003 people, conducted by ICM for the London-based newspaper, showed 72 percent believe athletes should participate in the Games, with only 19 percent saying they should stay away.

Meanwhile, a British sports official said on Friday that Britain will not follow America's lead by importing its own food for athletes at the Beijing Games.

"We have no major concerns about the food in Beijing," Bernard Cotton, head of performance for the British Olympic Association, told reporters in Macao. Cotton said catering facilities at the Olympic Village "are of the highest order" and the British team was not worried about contamination.

The US Olympic team has said it will fly in thousands of tons of meat and other foods for its more than 600 athletes staying in Beijing for the Games.

(China Daily February 23, 2008)