An appeal from Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office: Don't politicize the 2008 Olympics.

Politicizing next summer's Beijing Olympics not only goes against the Games' spirit but also hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said yesterday.

Wang criticized recent remarks and moves by some Western politicians as "poisoning and demonizing" the image of China, as they had been trying to associate the Games with politics and put pressure on the Chinese government over various issues.

He is absolutely right (and the article in fact cites the recent letter written to Hu Jintao by US congressmen about Darfur). Some Western politicians are "poisoning and demonizing" the image of China. And, to Imagethief's eye, not always entirely fairly. However that is the nature of politics. And it is the nature of the Olympic Games to be politicized. It is futile to rail against that. The challenge for China is to figure out how to deal gracefully with it.

Previously: Did the "Genocide Olympics" influence China?