Spielberg China snub seen setting trend

By Peter Apps

LONDON (Reuters) - China can expect more outbursts by celebrities and athletes angry at its perceived support for Sudan but opinion is divided over whether such action ahead of the Beijing Olympics will have any impact on Chinese policy.

Campaigners say the withdrawal of film director Steven Spielberg as artistic adviser to the Games in August is a sign of things to come for the Chinese organisers.

"The Olympics is China's debutante ball -- their chance to announce themselves on the international stage," said Save Darfur spokesman Allyn Brooks-LaSure.

"If things in Darfur don't change, it is going to get more high profile, more embarrassing, more lonely."

Spielberg said his conscience would not allow him to continue working and he pledged to spend his time and energy not on Olympic ceremonies, but on trying to end the "unspeakable crimes against humanity" in Darfur.

On Monday, nine Nobel Peace Prize winners wrote a letter to China asking it to uphold the Olympic ideals by pressuring Sudan over Darfur.

China is accused by critics of shielding Khartoum in the face of international efforts to send peacekeepers to Darfur. It says the Games should not be politicised and any link made between Darfur and the Olympics is irresponsible and unfair.

Amnesty International said it wanted prominent international actors to use the Olympics to raise concerns over rights issues in China, including the widespread use of execution, labour camps and attacks on rights workers.