Mainland officials can argue until they are blue in the face that the Beijing Olympics must be free of politics. But it is a futile exercise because it has already been politicised through and through - by Beijing and those who criticise it for its alleged human rights violations and foreign-policy misadventures. In many ways, the Olympics have always been political - and simply denying it does not change the fact.
But, in the case of China, staging the Olympics in Beijing is like waving a red flag in front of a bull; international human rights activists and pundits simply cannot resist such a golden opportunity to advance their agendas, some of which are honourable, others not at all.
But if the mainland wants to showcase itself as an emerging superpower, it is not enough just to show off its amazing hardware like sports facilities and structures. It must have the soft power and sophistication to answer its critics and advance its case in the global media. In this, Beijing has so far failed miserably. Unless things improve significantly in the next few months, it may already have a losing battle on its hands. The sudden appointment of a rising political star, Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping , to oversee preparations for the Games is, no doubt, a belated recognition that the tide needs to be turned, and turned quickly.
In this, the unfair labelling of the Beijing Olympics as the 'Genocide Olympics' by international campaigners against the slaughters in Darfur poses a great challenge. It exposes a fundamental contradiction in China's foreign policy of not interfering in other countries' domestic policies. Unless this basic issue is resolved, Beijing cannot effectively answer its critics - never mind that they are not being fair.
The state-owned PetroChina, for example, is inevitably singled out for its investments in Sudan in US media like The Wall Street Journal. Yet, they rarely ever report similar investments in Sudan by ONGC (India), Petronas (Malaysia), Alcatel (France), ABB (Switzerland) and Siemens (Germany).
Still, Beijing has done a terrible job in its failure at a policy level to appreciate the repercussions of befriending a regime that is responsible for the first genocide of the 21st century. It has, unwisely, shielded its client on key occasions from UN censures and sanctions. Beijing's mantra of non-interference has simply blinded it to the full implications.
This month, its friendliness with the regime in Khartoum is proving an even greater liability as fighting intensified in neighbouring Chad, with whom Beijing also has friendly relations. Rebels against Chadian President Idriss Deby are widely believed to enjoy backing from Khartoum. If ever there was a case in its national interest to interfere, it is now.