Re: China has acted positively on the Darfur crisis, Feb. 24.
The letter from the Chinese embassy requires a response, especially because the ongoing catastrophe in Darfur has already cost the lives of 400,000 to 450,000 "African" Darfuri civilians from bombs, bullets and related causes such as starvation by agents of the government of Sudan.
The government of China continues to assist the Sudanese regime of Omar al-Bashir in numerous ways, including, financing and supplying arms in exchange for taking most of Sudan's oil production at knockdown prices. China officially sold about $80 million in weapons, aircraft and spare parts to Sudan in 2005 which is the latest year for which figures are available. This included A-5 Fantan bomber aircraft, helicopter gunships, K-8 military attack aircraft and light weapons. Since the slaughter began in 2003, China's regime has also used the threat of its veto in the UN Security Council to block any effective UN action against Sudan.
Protected continuously by China, Bashir is confident that he can complete his terrible work in Darfur. He recently appointed Musa Hilal, the one-time leader of the murderous militia, the Janjaweed militia, to a position in his government. Hilal has been quoted expressing gratitude for "the necessary weapons and ammunition to exterminate the African tribes in Darfur."
Last month, the Sudanese military ambushed a well- marked U.N. peacekeeping convoy in Darfur, later claiming it was a mistake. Virtually every independent observer says it was a deliberate attack.
There is growing concern that the Sudan-China alliance will cause the UN peacekeeping force in Sudan to be as ineffective as it was in Rwanda and Bosnia.
The ongoing role of China's party-state across Darfur is not the conduct of a responsible member of the international community. Mia Farrow is quite right in linking its activities to the "Genocide Olympics".
David Kilgour,
Ottawa
