Chinese "disgusted" over pressure on Darfur

Chinese state media accused Western countries on Thursday of abusing the Olympic Games to pressure Beijing, saying boycotts by movie director Steven Spielberg and others "disgusted" the Chinese people.
The Hollywood director quit as an artistic adviser to the Beijing Games in August, saying China was doing too little to help halt bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, where Khartoum-linked militia have battled rebel groups.
Nine Nobel Peace laureates also wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging he change policy towards Sudan, where China has big oil investments. Beijing has often said it is working for peace in Darfur.
While China's Foreign Ministry and the Beijing Olympic organisers have so far not commented on this volley of criticism, the Global Times -- a current affairs tabloid run by the Communist Party's People's Daily -- hit back.
"Western exploitation of the Olympics to pressure China immediately provoked much disgust among ordinary Chinese people," the paper said.
"The vast majority of Chinese people have expressed bafflement and outrage at the Western pressure. In their view, it's absolutely absurd to place the Darfur issue, so many thousands of miles away, on the head of China."
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