Spielberg Bails On Beijing Olympics Role

Movie Maker Leaves Chinese Without Artistic Director For Games Over Sudan Controversy

(AP)  Beijing Olympic organizers appeared to be caught flat-footed Wednesday by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's announcement he would not be involved with the Games' opening and closing ceremonies because Beijing is not doing enough to help end the crisis in Darfur.

Spielberg says China has failed to pressure its ally Sudan into ending the humanitarian crisis in its Darfur region.

The announcement by Spielberg, who was to serve as artistic adviser, follows a months-long campaign by activists to highlight the authoritarian communist regime's curbs on human rights and free speech at home, and its close relationship with the Sudanese government that is accused of permitting widespread abuses in Darfur..

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Photos: Good For A Cause

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Two spokesmen for the Beijing organizing committee said they were following the issue and preparing a response. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was seeking more information.

Spielberg's announcement Tuesday could be a major blow to Beijing's promotion of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics as a symbol of China's integration into mainstream global society.

Beijing has invested billions of dollars and its national prestige into what it hopes will be a glorious showcase of China's rapid development from impoverished agrarian nation to rising industrial power.

Already, however, the country has been heavily beset by criticism from rights groups, celebrities and international media that threatens to dampen the mood surrounding the Games.

Campaigning for her mother in Ohio, Chelsea Clinton said Spielberg's decision is an encouraging statement for human rights. Clinton, 27, addressed a crowd of supporters Wednesday at Ohio Wesleyan University north of Columbus during her two-day swing through Ohio.

Spielberg joined actress Mia Farrow and activists worldwide to demand that Beijing exert political leverage on Sudan's government to help end the crisis, in which government-backed militia have battled rebels since 2003, leaving more than 200,000 people dead and an estimated 2.5 million displaced.

"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," Spielberg said.

Spielberg, whose 2005 film "Munich" dealt with the killings of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, said he had left unsigned his contract to serve as an artistic adviser to the Games' opening and closing ceremonies in hopes that dialogue with China would produce results.

He noted China's support for a U.N. resolution calling for a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, but said that had not been enough.

"The situation has never been more precarious - and while China's representatives have conveyed to me that they are working to end the terrible tragedy in Darfur, the grim realities of the suffering continue unabated," Spielberg said.

Spielberg was to have worked as a consultant to one of China's best-known directors, Zhang Yimou, along with Australian Ric Birch, director of the Sydney Games' ceremonies in 2000.

A request for comment e-mailed to Zhang's spokesman garnered no immediate response, and Birch could not immediately be reached for comment.

China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, while selling the regime weapons and defending Khartoum in the U.N. Security Council.

Already this week, the British Olympic Association was compelled to acknowledge that an agreement it asked its athletes to sign appeared to go beyond rules laid out by the International Olympic Committee barring any "demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda" at an Olympic venue or area.

Rights groups had castigated the BOA for attempting to gag its athletes and a number of other national Olympic committees responded by ruling out similar restrictions.

Beijing's response to such criticism has been to angrily lash out at what it calls attempts to "politicize" the Games.

"To link the Darfur issue to the Olympics is a move to politicize the Olympics and this is inconsistent with the Olympics spirit and will bear no fruit," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Jan. 24 - the ministry's most recent comment on the issue.
Beijing has highlighted its own efforts to mitigate the situation in Darfur, including the dispatch of engineering troops to prepare for the arrival of a hybrid peacekeeping force. It says its economic ties are helping to reduce conflict by alleviating poverty.

[lauramushkat]

Yay for Steven! You go guy!

[sophielhu]

The Olympics were not designed for political statements,like the punks that killed all the jews in Munich
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[Wookiee-1138]

George Lucas is waaaay better anyway.

[adasher1]

random_radar, please. Look at what Russia has done of late. We were nice to them, we helped them feed their people after the cold war, we bailed their economy out, then they turned on us. This week they buzzed a carrier group at 2,000 feet in a show of force. Being too nice does not work. Conversely, being too mean does not work either. Showing strength while remaining friendly is the only way to deal with them.

[wangbang]

This is nothing but showboating and posturing. If the world wanted to end the tragedy in Darfur, they could, but they don''t have the balls. So they make China a convenient scapegoat. After what happened in Rwanda when the world didn''t do jack, they quickly learned to make excuses and find someone to blame while they sit around and do nothing (once again, as usual).

[random_radar]

I think the best way to change a country is by being friendly with them. Everyone tends to behave better if they think it will win praise and friendship.

Isolating and berating a country will aid the repressive leadership. Welcoming and encouraging any positive effort will bolster freedom and openness.

It is a misguided strategy to alienate and embarrass individuals or nations. Much better to encourage any good thing to see more progress.

[adasher1]

"To link the Darfur issue to the Olympics is a move to politicize the Olympics and this is inconsistent with the Olympics spirit and will bear no fruit,"

Yeah, how terrible it is to go against China%u2019s idea of the Olympic Spirit like sending 3 year olds to athletic camps and forcing them to dedicate their entire young life to the sport, away from their families, away from a normal life, and without much regard for their mental stability so that China can win, win, win more gold medals then any other nation. How proud they must be of that spirit and the natural talents of their citizens. That%u2019s the spirit China.

[beehive21-2009]

The Olympics were not designed for political statements,like the punks that killed all the jews in Munich.please, entertainers do something right here in the USA, south central, they can use a hand down the street,lots of homeless need a helping hand.This is BS Spielberg