(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-27 13:29

BEIJING - Believe it or not, the Olympic Games are falling hostage to politics.

When Hollywood director Steven Spielberg announced his pullout from the Beijing event's opening ceremony consultant pool, I felt that it was after all a personal affair, whatever concerns he might cite.

It was only a farce, I thought, when a handful of Tibetan separatists and their supporters swore to boycott the torch relay of the Games to attract attention to their cause.

But when this or that statesman declared their presence at the Beijing sports event was preconditioned on dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, I had to believe that the Olympiad, a rare occasion for the world to seek temporary respite from politics, was tragically becoming a tool of politicians.

There were also candidates for office who wished to demonstrate their political correctness to win votes.

Needless to say, the Olympic Charter outlaws political acts and religious or racial propaganda.

The statesmen, generally believed to have superior political wisdom, should have thought twice before they made such statements if they were not seeking personal gains, such as support from voters who were misled or anti-China hard-liners.

As in the Tibet case, they were not only linking the Olympics to their personal futures -- politics -- they were also standing with those who committed ruthless killing and ransacking to pressure the Chinese government, which had taken only legitimate steps to stop violent crimes and shown maximum restraint.

It was also unwise, even ridiculous, for politicians to push for such a dialogue after Premier Wen Jiabao had reiterated at a press conference following the Lhasa riots that the government would always keep the door of dialogue open so long as the Dalai Lama sincerely renounced his independence attempt.

They should be aware that pressure or boycotts will never force the Chinese government to compromise with secessionists. On the contrary, their appeasement of separatist activities would only encourage the Dalai Lama and his supporters to drift further away from the negotiation table and resort to more violence and terror.

More dangerously for themselves, using the Olympics and Tibet as a tool may also tarnish their own political reputation.

China hopes the Olympics will accelerate the country's opening drive, but it refuses any political blackmail in the name of the Games.