Daily Darfur: China, Revisited

by Michelle . · 2009-08-13 04:29:00 UTC
Topics:

In a move that can largely be attributed to intense campaigning by Darfur activists in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics last year, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi listed Darfur as one of four "hot spot issues" on his foreign policy agenda. The minister urged the various parties to the conflict in Darfur to make haste to the negotiating table in a speech yesterday in Geneva.

Beginning in 2007, two dedicated campaigns formed to pressure the Chinese on Darfur:  Dream for Darfur, and the athlete-focused Team Darfur, led by Olympian Joey Cheek. Working alongside other activist organizations, these campaigns brought significant international attention to Chinese complicity in the crimes of the Sudanese government. During the course of the projects, China relented on authorizing UN peacekeepers in Darfur, joined a UN Security Council resolution calling on Sudan to cooperate with the International Court, appointed a special envoy to Sudan, and made its first public statements admonishing the government of Sudan.

In a testament to how annoyed the Chinese were by the attention, Joey's visa was revoked the night before he was set to travel to Beijing to support his activist athletes.

The problem now, however, is that this pressure has largely died off since the Olympics ended and the two campaigns closed their doors. To its credit, China seems to be working quietly behind-the-scenes to push for peace in Darfur, but has yet to use the full extent of its leverage to do so --- which proved particularly disappointing after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled 13 humanitarian organizations from Darfur in March, and China appeared to stand by its long-time ally.

That said, the fact that Darfur is a priority for China is a good thing. If only everyone's talk about peace negotiations would actually materialize...

Quickies

A delegation of 21 senior US military officers are currently in Rwanda, "to seek ways of further deepening relations with the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF)." (Whatever that means.) The leader of the delegation praised Rwanda's leadership in peacekeeping efforts, particularly in the UNAMID force in Darfur. In other UNAMID news, troops from Gambia and Burkina Faso will soon join the still-not-fully-deployed force.

A coalition of Darfuri activists started a "Save Sudan" petition.

Israeli advocates are criticizing their government's treatment of the refugees and asylum seekers in the country. One-third of the refugees in Israel are from Darfur and South Sudan.

The latest update from Mohamed Suleiman tells of more violence in Darfur's IDP camps.

[Photo of Team Darfur founder Joey Cheek and activist/actress Mia Farrow at a symbolic torch relay event.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
PREVIOUS STORY:
India - Shocked by Swine Flu's Rapid Spread
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.