(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-29 10:18

BEIJING - Lobbyists and activists who serve anti-China plots might gloatingly, but mistakenly, think they have found a soft rib in China when Tibetan riots coincidentally occurred with the approaching of the Beijing Olympic Games.

They called for boycott of the Olympiad, hoping to make China submit to their demands, but they apparently overestimated their weight, no matter what heavyweights they could be.

Closely tied to China's national interests in territorial integrity, the Tibet issue is one where the government will never compromise, even if those boycotters see the Olympics as a historical chance to pressure the country.

The noisy boycotts will become weightless compared with Chinese people's mounting support, which can be seen in online forums and blogs, to the government's actions in restoring stability in Lhasa and other ethnic Tibetan areas.

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Behind their support is the inherent determination of the nation to safeguard sovereignty.

After all, disturbing the Olympic Games, a rare occasion for the world to seek temporary respite from politics, goes against the will of the majority of the international community and true sports lovers.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reiterated its opposition against politicizing the sports event, but there are still some organizations and individuals who believe their will and power should overtop the Olympic Charter, which outlaws political acts and religious or racial propaganda.

The Games were in danger of becoming a political hostage when this or that statesman preconditions his presence at the Beijing event over dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, and when some foreign ministers "mulled" boycotts.

But they made a romantic mistake, neglecting the unchanged Chinese stance on its dialogue with the Dalai Lama. They ignored the fact that many countries had voiced their support to China after the Tibetan unrest and many state leaders had reiterated they would attend the August Games.

They were also risking their political reputation when they stood with those bloody rioters and their backers, and became allies of the Olympic saboteurs.

They should be aware that neither pressure nor boycotts will 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 negotiations table and resort to more violence and terror.

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

Keep politics, Olympics separate

The Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Fu Ying, said on Friday that politics should be kept out of the Olympics.

She told a BBC television program that the Games should be treated as a separate issue.

"I'm very worried because for days, for weeks, we have heard about the Beijing Olympics as if it's a UN conference for solving all domestic problems.

"For the Chinese it's about sport," she said.

"There's a lot more awareness of the influence of politics and there are better means for solving political problems, but you don't solve them on the football ground or in the swimming pool," she said.

"People died and people are angry with the way in which it was presented," she said.

Prior to the BBC interview, on Tuesday in London, Fu criticized those Western media that doctored photos and gave "twisted" reports of the recent riots in Lhasa.

The reports not only misled Western audiences, but also hurt the feelings of Chinese people, she said.

The ambassador also told the BBC that the Chinese government would speak to the Dalai Lama as long as he did not ask for Tibetan independence.

Fu said she was pleased that millions of Chinese people would be able to see London on television when the Olympic torch goes through the city on April 6.

In another development, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement this week: "The Tibet issue is China's internal affair. We hope the Chinese government takes measures to restore harmony and stability in the region soon.

"We are against linking the issue to the Beijing Olympics."

China's response to the riots in Tibet has won wide support from more than 120 countries and international organizations, all of which are against mixing the Tibet issue with the Olympics, the statement said.