Spielberg's Snub A Blow to China's Cultivated Image

By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, Feb 14 (IPS) - For image-conscious China, the public snub by Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, withdrawing involvement with the Beijing Olympics to protest the country’s indifference to the Darfur crisis, is seen as a setback to painstaking efforts to stage the perfect ‘coming-of-age’ party.

Having sought Spielberg’s talents to help orchestrate the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic games this summer, Beijing was left deeply uncomfortable when the director abandoned his role this week, saying the country was not doing enough to help end violence in Darfur.

"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," the director said in a statement this week.

In Beijing, the announcement by Spielberg was met with official silence coupled with a blackout on news regarding the pullout both in the sanctioned print media and the semi-official Internet sites.

Chinese leaders regard the Games as a symbolic endorsement of their country’s growing global clout but do not relish the intensified scrutiny of their domestic and international record that go with the games.

For the complete story, log on to http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41193.