Gordon Brown became an unintentional standard-bearer for pro-Tibet campaigners today after being wrongly praised by Hillary Clinton for boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The British media have treated the confirmation by No 10 yesterday of his plans not to attend the opening ceremony as an important foreign policy move, leading to reports around the world that he had snubbed China.

An exasperated Downing Street criticised the BBC and Channel 4 News for what it said was an inaccurate representation of Mr Brown’s longstanding decision to attend the closing ceremony and not the opening.

Critics have accused the Prime Minister of causing confusion by his remarks at a recent news conference with President Sarkozy of France. Mr Sarkozy mentioned the possibility of a boycott whereas Mr Brown ruled one out, saying: “Britain will be attending the Olympic Games ceremonies.”

Mrs Clinton jumped to the conclusion that he was taking a stand. “I wanted to commend Prime Minister Gordon Brown for agreeing not to go to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing,” she said.

Downing Street said that Mr Brown publicly accepted an invitation from Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime Minister, to attend the Games when he went to China in January.

According to officials, he told Mr Wen that he would go to the closing ceremony as that would mark the handover to London for the 2012 Olympics. Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, will be at the opening ceremony.

With most world leaders ruling out a full boycott of the Games, boycotting the opening ceremony has gained momentum as a way of protesting at Chinese behaviour in Tibet. The EU overwhelmingly approved a resolution, calling on its 27 governments to explore “the option of non-attendance in the event if there is no resumption of dialogue with the Dalai Lama”.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, will also not be present at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing for China’s “coming out party”.

President Sarkozy and Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, are considering staying away. The White House has left open the possibility that President George Bush might also not attend.

Mrs Clinton called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony, and is urging her presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain to do the same. Mr Obama says that a boycott should be “firmly on the table”, but no decision should be made now. Mr McCain has condemned China’s action in Tibet and advised Mr Bush to keep his options open.

China, however, has received support from an unlikely figure. The Dalai Lama said yesterday that he would consider going to the event on August 8 if the Chinese Government started to “see things realistically”.

Tibet’s spiritual leader, who used a visit to Tokyo to make an attack on China’s violent suppression of free speech, said that if matters improved on that front he would “personally want to enjoy the big ceremony”.