Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has denounced US and European efforts to link the Beijing Olympics with Chinese policy in Darfur, saying they run counter to the Olympic spirit. "There is a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games," Yang told reporters after meeting with the visiting British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett. "This is against the spirit of the Games. It also runs counter to the aspirations of all the people in the world, and so their aims will never be achieved." A group of 108 members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the Chinese government last week warning that the Beijing Olympics could be endangered if China did not change its policies in Sudan. The Bush administration, while praising China for recent steps, has long complained that Beijing is not doing enough to pressure the Sudanese government to accept a full U.N. peacekeeping force in the embattled Darfur region.

Edward Cody, Washington Post
Do you feel that US and European efforts to link the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Chinese policy in Darfur runs counter to the olympic spirit despite China's unique influence over Sudan?