Enlarge By Gerald Herbert, AP Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej looks on as President Bush signs a guest book upon his arrival by at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. BANGKOK  President Bush will express his "deep concerns" over China's record on human rights and religious freedom on the eve of his trip to Beijing for the Olympic Games. "The people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings," Bush will declare in a speech here Thursday, according to an advance text released by the White House. "So America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates, and religious activists." Before the speech, Bush had said he was reluctant to mix politics with the Olympics, saying he wanted to show respect for his Chinese hosts and to simply enjoy the Games as a sports fan. He repeatedly said he "didn't need the Olympics" to speak candidly in private to China's leaders about his human rights concerns. Brad Adams, Asia director for the activist group Human Rights Watch, called the speech "a welcome reversal ... Politics are intrinsically involved in the Olympics. To buy into the notion that this is just a sporting event is just silly. Beijing was awarded the Olympics as a political gesture" to a rising economic power. Even in the speech, Bush will emphasize that he isn't looking for a spat with the communist leadership in Beijing: "We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly, and labor rights not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential," Bush will say. "And we press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs." "Ultimately," Bush will say, "only China can decide what course it will follow." Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said Bush's comments demonstrate "some leadership. No one was saying no to China." But she added that it's also Bush's "balancing act," saying he'll go to the Olympics "but I'll be critical outside China." Hours after delivering the speech Thursday, Bush will fly to Beijing for the Games. Separately, White House press secretary Dana Perino said on Wednesday the U.S. would protest China's decision to deny a visa for former Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, who was planning to travel to Beijing to urge that the Chinese government help make peace in the war-torn Darfur section of Sudan. "We are taking the matter very seriously," Perino said. "We would hope that they would change their minds." Bush is making his ninth — and perhaps last — trip to Asia as president with stops in South Korea, Thailand and China. At press conference Wednesday in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, Bush said that North Korea could leave the "axis of evil" and shed its pariah state status if dictator Kim Jong Il came clean on his country's nuclear weapons programs and ended human rights abuses. "It's his choice to make," Bush said. TUESDAY: Prayers, protests greet Bush in S. Korea The United States has offered to remove North Korea from its list of countries that sponsor terrorism as early as this coming weekend. But Bush said North Korea must meet "many more obligations" before the United States erases it from the terrorism blacklist, primarily its commitment to verify the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program. Bush said he was encouraged that North Korea had destroyed the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear plant in June. "That's kind of the ultimate verification, isn't it?" he said. But Bush said the reclusive Stalinist state still needed to disclose more information about its plutonium and uranium enrichment programs and what it was doing to end them. "They've got a lot to do," he said. In his 2002 state of the union message, Bush labeled North Korea, Iran and Saddam Hussein's Iraq members of the "axis of evil." On Wednesday, Bush said, "My hope is that the 'axis of evil' list no longer exists. That's my hope, for the sake of peace. And it's my hope for the sake of our children." Appearing with Lee Wednesday, Bush also urged the U.S. Congress to ratify a free trade agreement his administration negotiated with South Korea last year. The deal would end duties on 95% of consumer and industrial products the countries sell each other within three years and end most other tariffs within 10 years. Opponents, including the AFL-CIO and other labor unions, say the deal will destroy American jobs. "I am worried about the protectionist signals coming out of the U.S. Congress," Bush said. "Let Congress, people in Congress, declare one way or the other whether they're for open markets and free and fair trade." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more