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Spielberg pulls out of Beijing Olympics

Film director Steven Spielberg withdrew on Tuesday as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after trying unsuccessfully to prod Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to do more to end Sudan's attacks in the Darfur region.

Spielberg's decision, and the public way he announced it, is a blow to China, which has said that its relationship with Sudan should not be linked to the Olympics, a source of national pride.

In a statement sent to the Beijing Olympic Committee and the Chinese ambassador, Spielberg said that his "conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual."

"Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there," the statement said. "China's economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change."

Responding to Spielberg's action, a spokesman at the Chinese embassy in Washington said: "As the Darfur issue is neither an internal issue of China nor is it caused by China, it is completely unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair to link the two as one."

Spielberg had written to Hu about Darfur twice in the past 10 months, his spokesman said, taking China to task for its "silence," while Sudan blocked the deployment of international peacekeepers and expelled aid workers.

Spielberg had come under increasing pressure from activists working on Darfur, including a campaign by actress Mia Farrow, to drop his association with the Beijing Olympics.

Meanwhile, a Chinese activist was set to stand trial yesterday after he called for human rights instead of the Olympics.

Yang Chunlin (楊春林) helped organize a petition demanding the return of disputed land and boldly declaring: "We don't want the Olympics, we want human rights."

Yang, 51, faces several years' imprisonment on charges of "inciting subversion of state power," his lawyer Li Fangping said.

Also see: EDITORIAL: Polite silence no longer acceptable
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