First read some of this:
http://www.sudanreeves.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=115and then this article from August 10th.
reprinted from the wall street journal
http://www.genocideintervention.net/about/press/coverage/index.php/archives/150snip
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It is an unholy alliance. The U.N. imposed an arms embargo when it became apparent that the Government of Sudan’s military actions in Darfur were overwhelmingly directed against helpless civilians. And yet China continues to supply Khartoum with assault helicopters, armored vehicles and small arms. Last August, Beijing sold 212 military trucks to Khartoum. Chinese oil company airstrips in southern Sudan have been used by government forces to conduct bombing raids on villages and hospitals. A U.N. investigation conducted this year determined that the vast majority of weaponry used to attack civilians across Darfur is of Chinese origin.
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Thanks to this relationship, Sudan has purchased the best protection in the world: a veto-wielding member on the U.N. Security Council willing to ensure that Khartoum’s campaign of human destruction in Darfur can continue.
The U.N. measures that have been passed have been hopelessly enfeebled by Beijing. In July 2004, China watered down a bill that would have demanded that Khartoum prosecute militiamen accused of atrocities, removing language that threatened sanctions. They did so again in September 2004, when — in a U.S.-sponsored resolution — a commitment that the U.N. “will take” punitive action was replaced with an impotent “shall consider” wording. In April, when the Security Council considered targeted sanctions on Khartoum’s leadership, China withdrew their strenuous veto threats in the face of mounting international pressure, but only after ensuring that the list was stripped of all high-level officials.
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On May 16, the Security Council finally voted on a resolution that compelled Sudan to admit a U.N. peacekeeping assessment mission. China withdrew its veto threat only after the resolution had been gutted of key language that would have allowed some U.N. peacekeepers from a force already in southern Sudan to move to Darfur. And they did so with an explicit declaration from China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., Zhang Yishan, that their vote “should not be construed as a precedent for the Security Council’s future discussion or the adoption of new resolutions against Sudan.”
That promise has given Khartoum virtual immunity from any repercussions as it proceeds with its genocidal ambitions in Darfur. China is underwriting the first genocide of the 21st Century, and using their political weight to ensure that it is not stopped. How can we accept that?
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