CHINA:International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the games in Beijing next year would be a "force for good on Chinese society", sidestepping tough questions about human rights issues and boycott threats by underlining the sporting body's apolitical nature.
It was a potent illustration of just how much sport and politics will compete for headlines in the run-up to the summer games, which open in the Chinese capital in August next year.
Mr Rogge was in Beijing to attend SportAccord, the world's biggest sports convention, which opened yesterday with a speech by premier Wen Jiabao. The IOC panel faced a grilling about China's human rights record and its perceived inaction on genocide in Darfur, as well as news that China had detained four US citizens on Mount Everest who were demonstrating for a free Tibet.
There have been calls for a boycott of the Beijing games over China's support of the Sudanese government, which is said to back groups committing widespread killings in Darfur. China supplies arms to Sudan and also has huge oil investments there, and rights groups say its involvement is complicating peace efforts.
Mr Rogge mostly left it to Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC co-ordination commission, to answer the questions, which he did by underlining the sports body's apolitical stance.
"When it comes to Darfur - we, as the IOC, have always taken the position that these are political issues and the IOC are not a political operation or body. We are not in a position to give instructions to governments," he said.
Last week actress Mia Farrow singled out director Steven Spielberg, who is advising Beijing on the opening ceremony, and said he risked comparison with Hitler's film-maker Leni Riefenstahl.
Mr Spielberg subsequently sent a letter to President Hu Jintao condemning the killings in Darfur.
