Steven Spielberg yesterday announced that he would no longer serve as a creative adviser to the Beijing Olympics because of China's support of the government of Sudan. Now the Chinese government has fired back against Spielberg:
I've been a sports fan for close to three decades, and this is the first I've heard of any universally recognized principle of non-politicization of sports."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 organizations and individuals to link the two as one," said a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy. ...
Chinese Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong said efforts to link the conflict in Darfur "contravenes the universally recognized principle of non-politicization of sports, and runs counter to the Olympic spirit."
Furthermore, I can think of a few Olympians who weren't aware of that principle, either. Muhammad Ali, the 1960 light-heavyweight boxing gold medalist, certainly wasn't aware of that principle. Neither were 1968 200-meter gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos. Nor were the members of the International Olympic Committee who voted to expel South Africa in 1970, in one of the international community's strongest condemnations of Apartheid.
China can and will spend the next six months glossing over its appalling human-rights record, secure in the knowledge that the Games will go on. But it can't stop people in other countries from speaking out, and Spielberg should be applauded for adding his voice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-13-2008 @ 12:04PM
TTambis said...
Mr. Smith, your last paragraph explains why Mr. Spielberg should have passed on the offer to provide his creative touch to the '08 Games.
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2-13-2008 @ 1:21PM
Flu Shot said...
32% of Sudan oil go to America.
36% of Sudan oil go to Europe.
Only 8% go to China.
Shame on America and Europe for supporting mass murderers.
Shame on America and Europe for lying all the time.
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2-13-2008 @ 1:50PM
Flu Shot said...
Chinese government should not have hired Spielburg to begin with.
I have watched all Olympics opening ceremonies since 1992. Compared to ceremonies of Chinese National Games, they suck.
From artistic, creativvity, beauti, and grand scale angle, they are no match for the Chinese National Games.
1996 Atlanta OLympic ceremonies were terrible compared to Chinese ones.
Compare to the opening and closing ceremoies of Universities Game in Beijing in July 2001, the ceremonies in Salt Lake City Winter Olympic simply sucked.
Americans and Europeans maybe good at other things. When it comes to artistic, creative and grand scale ceremonies, they are no match for the Chinese.
Chinese government should just copy one of its previous ceremonies. That would be more than other countries can imagin.
Fire cowboy gay Ang Lee too. What does he know about artistic and grand scale stuff?
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2-13-2008 @ 5:09PM
peter said...
Spielbergs hands are already covered by Tibetan and Sudanese blood. He helped a dictatorships propaganda machine. He will have to live with this for the rest of his life.
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2-14-2008 @ 12:52PM
Michael Broad said...
I applaud Steven Speilberg. China really do have a lot to answer for. I would also like to speak out for all the animals that are also treated so badly including domestic cats and dogs. The way a country treats its animals, the weak and the vulnerable is a sign as to how civilized it is. I can only conclude that China is uncivilized despite its long history of supposed civilization.Shame on the China.
Michael
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