China opposes Sudan sanctions; dismisses Olympic boycott call

June 25, 2007 (PARIS) — China again came out against sanctions against Sudan Monday, and argued against appeals by some critics for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to force China to get tough with Khartoum.

“Now is not the time to talk about further sanctions,” said China’s special envoy for Sudan, Liu Giujin said at a conference in Paris to try to push forward peace efforts.

China is viewed as a power broker in Sudan.

Liu said any attempted link to the Beijing Olympics was “really unfounded. The basic character of the Olympics is nonpolitical.”

Asked by reporters whether the Chinese oil industry’s involvement in Sudan kept Beijing from coming down hard, Liu said: “That’s baseless, that’s unfounded.”

Earlier, France pressed for international financing of a new, enlarged peacekeeping force for Darfur, and decried the world’s lack of action on the crisis there.

“Silence is killing,” said President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy pledged an additional EUR10 million to the existing – and cash-strapped – AU force. His five-week-old government has made the four-year conflict in Darfur a priority.

Sudan wasn’t invited to the one-day conference, attended by 18 countries, U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the European Union and others. Officials from the Sudanese government in Khartoum have said Monday’s conference could backfire and cause more harm than good.

Details about the composition, mandate and timetable of the joint force were expected to top discussions at Monday’s meetings.

(AP)