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China Feigns Innocence

As Beijing prepares for the upcoming Olympic games, demonstrations have erupted in many countries across the world against China’s cultural repression, its violent resistance to Tibet's struggle for independence, and its nefarious role in the Darfur crisis. The same sentiment against the United States government for its supporting role has engendered disapproval at home and throughout the international community.

Investors, sponsors, foreign ambassadors, spectators, humanitarians, nationalists, and political activists are making their voices heard as never before. China’s attempt to dissuade criticism for its abuses of human rights and even animal rights is losing the public relations battle. Their disingenuous support of the Sudanese government is in many ways similar to the United States’ support of Saudi Arabia and the occupation of Iraq. In both cases, the underlying motive is unprincipled profit. It is by no coincidence that the earth’s last two treasure troves for black gold are to be found in Sudan and Iraq, where war, death and destruction abound. The exploitation of these nations by China and the United States has become too obvious to ignore, despite the corporate propagandists who manipulate mainstream media and government policy to deny these allegations.

Tibet’s struggle for independence from China has been a heartbreaking struggle for many years. Their right and need for sovereignty, though justified, has never attracted much support from the U.S. -- other than lip service. Without oil or other valuable resources of notable worth, their plight is often overlooked and ignored. However, to China, this is not so. While Tibet is poor in coal, oil and natural gas, it is rich in hydro-, geothermal, and solar and wind energy. Tibet is extremely well endowed with hydroelectric energy resources, producing approximately 200 million KW of natural hydro energy annually, accounting for about 30 percent of China's total. With the world focusing on the upcoming Beijing Olympics, China’s attempts to silence the protestors from Tibet are failing. While the Bush administration espouses support of democracy in Iraq, it appears that their concern for liberty in China and Tibet lacks any financial incentive to support their noble cause.

The greatest tragedy of our times, however, is occurring in Darfur. Understanding this crisis is paramount for world opinion to move towards a resolution that can bring peace to this sorely troubled land. Hundreds of thousands have already been killed because of greed and ignorance. Most people in America have no idea who the players are in Darfur and often ignore the issue entirely. Fostered by a mainstream media that abstains from putting the focus on the core problem, which is rooted in unjust profiteering, our greatest trading partner, China, has been given a blind eye to its sponsorhsip of the genocide in Darfur.

In 2003, ethnic African tribesman took up arms to resist Sudan’s Arab-dominated government after decades of discrimination and atrocities committed against local African communities. The Janjaweed, a private armed force of Arabs that is supported by the Sudanese government is supplied with weapons made in China. These are the weapons used against many African tribes who are struggling over the scarce primary resources in Darfur. The fear that Africans would overthrow the Sudanese government and curtail its control of oil shipped to China continues to perpetuate tribal dispute and genocide.

The Chinese Embassy insists that the internal affairs in Darfur are unrelated to its policies. This denial, however, fails to acknowledge China’s participation in selling weapons to Sudan -- weapons that have already been used to “cleanse” Darfur of over 200,000 people. And since 2003 an estimated 2.5 million have been “displaced“. Those who prefer to look the other way often use the word, displaced. What it actually means is that over a million people -- primarily mothers and children have become homeless and starving refugees. Many of their men have been slaughtered as a safeguard to prevent resistance to Sudan’s corrupt government.

According to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof, “China has been developing and funding Sudanese oil fields. The Sudanese government then uses the revenue from oil sales with China to buy arms and fund militia … China is also the leading supplier of weapons to Sudan. In 2005, China sold $85 million worth of arms and spare parts for aircraft … It would be a tremendously important bit of leverage if we can negotiate a Chinese arms suspension in Sudan.”

The Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily is currently making a great effort to deny China’s role in Darfur’s genocide, just as the Sudanese government pretends not to support the Janjaweed. But as Kristof and other reports confirm, the Janjaweed, are a government supported secret army of mercenaries, hired and supported by both Sudan and China. “You drive around hour after hour and you don’t see live people besides the Janjaweed. Rural parts of Darfur have been completely obliterated.” Kristof reported this on April 7, 2008

China’s willingness to even debate this issue is atypical; but with their investment in the Beijing Olympics on the line, they are now hoping to sway public opinion. In the face of growing international anger at China and its threat to the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing, the Communist Party‘s People‘s Daily stated: "Many people think the Olympics are a sports event but the West wants to bind sports and politics, this is a clumsy trick."

While the international response to the Darfur crisis has been insufficient, recent support by Rev. Desmund Tutu, Hollywood activists, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, and Mia Farrow have helped draw attention to these grave issues. The time is long overdue for the world to look at the crisis in Darfur, at the liberation of Tibet, the abuse of power by the Chinese government, and the role of governments who choose to enable these atrocities.