China: Activists being unfair
2008-02-13 17:16
Washington - Activists who link atrocities in the Darfur region in Sudan with the Beijing Olympics are being "unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair," China said after a day of publicised celebrity protests.
"As the Darfur issue is neither an internal issue of China, nor is it caused by China, it is completely unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair for certain organisations and individuals to link the two as one," said a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy late on Tuesday.
The statement followed a protest led by Nobel Peace Prize winners in the Save Darfur Coalition and Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg's withdrawal as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics over China's policy on Darfur.
China is a leading oil customer and supplier of weapons to Sudan and is accused by critics of providing diplomatic cover for Khartoum as it stonewalls international efforts to send peacekeepers to contain the Darfur conflict in western Sudan.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Wang Baodong said efforts to link the conflict in Darfur "contravenes the universally recognised principle of non-politicisation of sports, and runs counter to the Olympic spirit".
China had played a constructive role in diplomacy to resolve the Darfur conflict, the embassy said.
"We sincerely hope that relevant parties respect facts, and make a fair and objective judgment on the positive role played by China on the Darfur issue," Wang said, which did not directly refer to Spielberg's decision.
Nine Nobel Peace Prize laureates - including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and Jody Williams - signed a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urging China to uphold Olympic ideals by pressing Sudan to stop atrocities in Darfur.
The letter was also signed by US politicians, Olympic medallists and entertainers and delivered to Chinese embassies and missions as part of events in the US and Europe staged to mark six months before the August 8-24 Olympics.
In more than four years of bloodshed in Darfur, 200 000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes, according to estimates from international experts. Khartoum says 9 000 people have died.