MUMBAI: The Chinese government has snubbed Dark Knight star Christian Bale of creating a story when government-backed guards stopped him from visiting blind activist Chen Guangcheng ineastern China last week.

The government said that Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit a human rights activist while he was in China to promote a movie the country has submitted for an Oscar, a Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.

He said Bale was invited by director Zhang Yimou to attend the opening ceremony of the film The Flowers of War. "But he was not invited to create a story or shoot film in a certain village," Liu observed. "I think if you want to make up news in China, you will not be welcome here."

Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year‘s The Fighter, said he wanted to shake Chen‘s hand and tell him "what an inspiration he is."
Chen documented forced late-term abortions and sterilizations and other abuses by overzealous authorities trying to meet population control goals in his rural community.

He was later imprisoned for allegedly instigating an attack on government offices and organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic.