China says boycott calls against "goodwill"

BEIJING, Apr 26 (Reuters) China said today any calls to boycott next year's Beijing Olympics were against the world's ''broad goodwill'', after a French presidential candidate raised the possibility of a boycott over Darfur.

Socialist Segolene Royal, who faces Nicolas Sarkozy in a runoff election next month, said yesterday she did not rule out a boycott of the Olympics because of China's stance over the bloody turmoil in the Sudan region of Darfur.

China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has oil investments in Sudan and rights groups say it has frustrated international efforts to curtail war and atrocities in Darfur, where government-linked militia have been fighting rebels.

''It's not because there is oil in the ground that me must let this abominable genocide happen,'' Royal told France 2 television.

Asked if France should boycott the Olympic Games to pressure China, Royal said: ''I do not exclude it. If there is such inaction, such passivity, all means must be used so that things move.'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao did not directly criticise Royal but issued a general warning against sullying China's preparations for the Games.

''The Chinese people have been anticipating and preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics,'' Liu told a news conference in Beijing. ''Using any excuses or political reasons to boycott or oppose it would go against the broad goodwill of the international community.

''We hope the politicians can treat the Beijing Olympic Games with a sober attitude.'' The United States in particular has pressed China to use its economic muscle to persuade Khartoum to end violence in Darfur, where about 200,000 people have been killed in the past few years and about 2.5 million driven from their homes.

Royal faces right-winger Sarkozy in a runoff vote on May 6.

Frontrunner Sarkozy has ruled out a boycott of the Games over China's position on Sudan.

REUTERS BJR VV1541