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Chinese scoff at boycott calls
Chinese Olympic officials believe any Olympic boycott would be doomed.
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2007 20:52 GMT

US actress Mia Farrow speaks out against Chinese action on Darfur [AFP]

A high-ranking Chinese foreign ministry official said any attempt to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics will fail, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
 
French presidential candidate Francois Bayrou and American actress Mia Farrow have each called for a boycott, hoping to pressure China to do more stop the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
"I heard some people are saying they would boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to protest China's policy over Darfur. They are either ignorant or ill-natured,'' Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said Wednesday following a four-day visit to Sudan.

"These people's remarks run contrary to the spirit of the Olympics and work against the will of the people in the world."

China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, has opposed sanctions against Sudan.

However, the Chinese government has urged Sudan to accept the deployment of U.N.-backed international peacekeepers for Darfur.

Earlier this month, in an editorial in The Wall Street Journal, Farrow wrote, "There is now one thing that China may hold more dear than their unfettered access to Sudanese oil: their successful staging of the 2008 Summer Olympics."

Source:
Agencies
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