Read Catherine Philp on the stars who turned spotlight on Darfur

Steven Spielberg pulled out of the Beijing Olympics last night to protest against China’s backing for Sudan’s policy in Darfur.

In a gesture sure to rattle the Chinese Government, the Oscar-winning director announced that he was withdrawing as an artistic adviser for the opening ceremony of this summer’s Games.

“I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual,” Spielberg said in a statement. “At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur.”

Spielberg’s decision followed a determined campaign by a fellow Hollywood figure, Mia Farrow, to shame him into cutting his ties to the Olympics over Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes since 2003.

His withdrawal will embarrass China, which has sought to limit the fallout from its close ties to the Islamic Government in Sudan. It comes as fighting flares up again in Darfur, the western Sudanese province, with 12,000 refugees fleeing towards Chad after Friday’s deadly attacks against three towns. The violence has spilt over into neighbouring Chad, where Sudan-based insurgents last week stormed the capital Ndjamena in a failed bid to topple the Government.

China, which has extensive investments in the Sudanese oil industry and imports two thirds of the country’s oil, maintains close links with the Government that includes one minister charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Farrow has orchestrated a campaign to halt what she describes as a genocide by Arab Janjawid militia of black villagers in Darfur.

As Spielberg announced his move, the Rosemary’s Baby star joined activists around the world in a “Global Day of Action” for Darfur. Accompanied by the former Olympic swimmers Shannon Shakespeare and Nikki Dryden, the actress tried to deliver an open letter to the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, at the Chinese mission to the United Nations in New York.

The letter was signed by the Nobel Peace laureates Bishop Carlos Belo, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchú, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams and Jody Williams, as well as politicians, Olympic medallists and entertainers.

“We are all aware of the tremendous potential for China to help bring an end to the conflict in Darfur,” the letter said. The Save Darfur Coalition said that it staged similar events in Britain, Portugal and Italy yesterday and planned more in Nigeria, France, Australia and elsewhere.

In London activists held a torch-lit procession to the Sudanese and Chinese embassies waving banners reading “China: Darfur needs you” and “China: help protect Darfur”. Richard Vaughan, who competed in the 2004 Athens Games, said that athletes had to challenge China to use its trade links to put pressure on the Sudanese over Darfur.

His comments followed a climb-down by the British Olympic Association over a “gagging clause” in athletes’ contracts for the Beijing Games.

In his statement, Spielberg said that he had left his Olympic contract unsigned for almost a year, anticipating that he might eventually have to pull out. “Sudan’s Government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there,” he said.

“China’s economic, military and diplomatic ties to the Government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change. The situation has never been more precarious – and while China’s representatives have conveyed to me that they are working to end the terrible tragedy in Darfur, the grim realities of the suffering continue unabated.”

Blood and oil

— China is Sudan’s biggest foreign trade partner. It has invested more than £200 million in the Darfur region alone

— Beijing financed a 994 mile (1,600km) oil pipeline from southern Sudan to the Red Sea, from where 400,000 barrels a day are exported to China

— Campaigners accuse China of selling arms to Sudan’s Islamic Government, which have since been used in attacks inside Darfur. They also claim that Beijing has consistently used its UN Security Council veto to help Sudan and that its efforts to resolve the conflict in the western province have been cursory at best

— The British Olympic Association’s attempt to prevent UK competitors from commenting on China’s human rights record has drawn heavy criticism. The British badminton player Richard Vaughan said yesterday that it was “very difficult to keep a polite silence about a conflict that continues to cost so many lives”.

Source: Agencies

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