Amid criticism from foreign media and politicians from around the globe on China’s human rights record ranging from its relations with Sudan to recent anti-abortion protests in the countryside, a Chinese official has called for a stop to the politicization of the upcoming Olympics. From the People’s Daily Online:
Politicizing next summer’s Beijing Olympics not only goes against the Games’ spirit but also hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said yesterday.
Wang criticized recent remarks and moves by some Western politicians as “poisoning and demonizing” the image of China, as they had been trying to associate the Games with politics and put pressure on the Chinese government over various issues.
On May 8, a group of 108 US Congress members sent a letter to President Hu Jintao threatening that if China did not change its policies on Darfur in Sudan, they would boycott the Beijing Games, which open next August. [Full text]
See also the Washington Post’s “China’s Games” editorial that discusses China’s recent human rights controversies that have fueled the politicization of the Olympics.
