Washington does not back the suggestion of a boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to protest China's policy in Darfur, the US State Department said yesterday.

The boycott proposal "is a private effort that is under way. Their perception of the ability of the Chinese government to influence the behavior of the Sudanese government is not a US government effort; is not something that we have supported," spokesman Sean McCormack said in response to a query at a news conference.

"For our part as a government, we are working with the Chinese government to see that they bring all the possible leverage to bear on the Sudanese government that they possibly can," he added.

A campaign to use the Olympics to put pressure on Beijing to do more to stop bloodshed in the Darfur region has been gathering steam recently.

French politicians floated the idea of an Olympic boycott during the country's recent presidential race, and US actress Mia Farrow and others are pushing corporate sponsors of the Games to pressure Beijing to do more.

After a fact-finding visit to the region, Chinese special envoy to Africa Liu Guijin said the core of the crisis is poverty and that China opposes expanded sanctions against Sudan.

Liu Naiya, a researcher at the Institute of West Asia and Africa Studies affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "There are a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games by linking them to the Darfur crisis. Their objectives will never be attained."

Beijing favors a political settlement of the Darfur issue which respects Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Liu Naiya, adding that peace is not achievable unless the impoverished conditions in Darfur are dramatically improved.

It is poverty, after all, that has dragged different ethnic groups in Sudan into conflicts over water and grazing land, he said.

Ignoring the roots of the crisis while wielding a big stick is not a feasible approach, he added.

(China Daily via china.org.cn June 6, 2007)