Spielberg Directs Condemnation To China But Australian Plans Unaltered

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday February 15, 2008

Jacquelin Magnay

AUSTRALIA will compete in the Beijing Olympics regardless of any push for international condemnation of China in relation to its strong links to Sudan, stressed the Federal Government and the Australian Olympic Committee yesterday.

This comes as criticism of China escalated around the world, sparked by the withdrawal of Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg from his role as artistic director of the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies.

"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," Spielberg said.

Spielberg said China, which has big oil investments in Sudan, was not doing enough to stop bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, where Khartoum-linked militia have battled rebel groups.

"We feel regret about his remarks," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

In a significant global anti-Chinese push, a letter was published on the front page of The Independent in Britain, signed by eight Nobel Peace Laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, international athletes, none of which were Australian, and two Australian political figures, Kerry Nettle and Natasha Stott Despoja.

US, Canadian, French, Mexican and Portuguese Olympic medallists also signed the letter, along with actors Emma Thompson and Joanna Lumley. The letter prompted the British Minister for Olympics, Tessa Jowell, to use the most sensitive word in the Olympic Movement - boycott - in claiming such a move would be futile.

"A call for a boycott doesn't serve any purpose and it would be a great pity," Jowell said.

"This doesn't mean, however, we should be distracted from the urgency of Darfur."

AOC spokesman Mike Tancred said no Australian athletes had raised any political issues or had concerns about going to China.

He said: "We are committed to competing in Beijing as we feel China is opening up the country and inviting the world. By going and competing in peace and harmony it will speed up change in China."

A spokesman for Federal Minister for Sport Kate Ellis said: "Australia will be definitely competing at the Beijing Olympics, and competing in friendship."

The public letter claims China has failed to contribute to a just peace in Darfur, which amounted to support for a government that carried out atrocities against its own people. The Global Times, a current affairs newspaper run by the Communist Party's People's Daily said the statements of high-profile westerners was viewed with "disgust" in China.

"As the Darfur issue is not an internal affair of China, nor was it caused by China, to link the two together is utterly unreasonable," the paper said.

"Western exploitation of the Olympics to pressure China immediately provoked much disgust among ordinary Chinese people."

International agencies claim 200,000 people have died in the conflict over the past four years in Darfur.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home