Attempts to link Beijing Olympics to Darfur will fail – China’s FM
May 18, 2007 (BEIJING) — China dug in its heels Friday against growing criticism that it is not doing enough to stop the bloodshed in Sudan’s Darfur region, saying attempts to use the crisis to politicize Beijing’s Olympic Games would fail.
Yet its involvement in Sudan is becoming a liability as it tries to portray itself as a responsible power while welcoming the world to the 2008 Olympics, a massive source of national pride.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi went on the offensive, reiterating China’s opposition to using the Summer Games to put pressure on Beijing to do more to stop the violence.
“There are a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games,” Yang said in a meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
“Their objectives … will never be attained,” he said.
More than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 2.5 million displaced since February 2003, when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government. Sudanese authorities responded by unleashing both the military and government-backed rebels.
On Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution that would call on China to use its economic leverage with Sudan to stop the violence.
The measure, sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans, urges Beijing to press Sudan to allow the entry of a U.N. peacekeeping force, and to disarm militias operating in Darfur.
The action came days after a group of U.S. House of Representatives members sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, suggesting that unless China changes its policies in Sudan, the 2008 games could become a public relations disaster.
Additionally, French politicians floated the idea of an Olympic boycott during their country’s recent presidential race. American actress Mia Farrow also has called on corporate sponsors of the Games to pressure Beijing to do more.
Despite Beijing’s resistance, it has also taken measures indicating an attempt to persuade Khartoum to change tack.
While visiting Sudan in February, Hu urged President Omar al-Bashir to give the United Nations a greater role in trying to resolve the conflict _ a rare public pronouncement contrary to China’s traditional refusal to interfere in what it considers other countries’ internal affairs.
Last week, Beijing also announced that it had appointed a special representative on African affairs to focus on the Sudan issue and confirmed that it will send engineers to support U.N. peacekeepers trying to quell the violence.
Yang, the foreign minister, said Beijing will continue to keep in “close touch and contact with relevant parties concerned.”
“We hope that this issue will be resolved properly through dialogue and negotiation,” he said.
(AP)