China creates special post to handle Darfur crisis
May 11, 2007 (BEIJING) — China appointed a special envoy dedicated to the Darfur crisis after facing international pressure to do more in the war-ravaged Sudan region, as the issue became increasingly associated with the Olympics – a source of immense national pride.
The move Thursday came after a group of U.S. politicians demanded China step up its efforts to persuade Sudan’s government to stop the bloodletting in Darfur.
“We hope to solve the issue by political means,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. “We are ready to make joint efforts with the international community, including the U.S.”
China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports and sells the African country weapons and military aircraft.
Jiang said Thursday that Liu Guijin, a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, was appointed to the newly created post of Special Representative to African Affairs, and for the foreseeable future he would focus on Darfur because the situation there had “drawn significant international attention.”
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million made homeless in four years of bloody attacks from Arab militias allegedly sponsored by President Omar al-Bashir’s government.
The attacks began after black African Sudanese rose to demand autonomy for the vast western Sudan region.
A letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao from 108 members of the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday suggested that unless China changes its policies in Sudan, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games could become a disaster for the Chinese rather than the image enhancer Beijing is expecting.
French politicians already floated the idea of a boycott during their recent presidential race and American actress Mia Farrow has also called on corporate sponsors of the Games to pressure China to do more to help stop the violence in Darfur.
China bristles at such attempts to tarnish the Games. Last month, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said anyone who advocated an Olympic boycott over Darfur would have to be “either ignorant or ill-natured.”
China’s leadership has been widely criticized for not using its influence to do more to stop the Darfur crisis. It has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur without Sudanese consent.
Now, it is trying to carefully calibrate its actions on Darfur by demonstrating to critics a willingness to help in the region while not overly embarrassing or alienating Khartoum.
Thursday’s move also followed the release of an Amnesty International report this week claiming that China and Russia were breaching a U.N. arms embargo by letting weapons into Sudan. Both countries denied the allegations.
(AP)