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Marketing chief defends China's stance on Darfur

The head of marketing for the Beijing Olympics defended China's stance on Darfur and appealed to activists yesterday not to pressure sponsors to pull out of the Games.

"If you respect the truth, you will see that China has been doing a lot toward the resolution of the Darfur issue," said Yuan Bin, director of the Beijing Olympics marketing department. "As for groups pressuring sponsors about the Beijing Olympic Games, I want to say the Olympics should be kept nonpolitical."

Yuan defended the Games as "a celebration that contributes to world peace."

China has faced increasing pressure to do more to urge the government in Sudan -- where China is a major buyer of oil -- to end the violence in Darfur. More than 200,000 people have died in the Sudanese province in a conflict between rebels and militias backed by government forces.

Some of that pressure has spread to sponsors of the Games, which run from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24, with activists pushing the sponsors to reveal what they are doing to pressure Beijing to act more forcefully with the Sudan government.

The spotlight on the issue hit China again last week when director Steven Spielberg accused Beijing of not doing enough to bring an end to the suffering. Spielberg resigned as an artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies of this summer's Beijing Olympics, saying his conscience would not allow him to continue working with the event.

China has consistently said the Olympics is a sporting event and should not be linked to politics.

Still, China has made significant changes to its policies in Sudan within the last year, appointing longtime diplomat Liu Guijin (劉貴今) as a special envoy to the region and sending 140 engineers to help prepare for the arrival of African Union and UN peacekeepers.

The efforts have earned kudos from the US.
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