In recent weeks, the world has witnessed catastrophes of nature in China and Burma beyond the ability of most of us to comprehend. For what happened in Sichuan province, the thoughts, sympathies and prayers of all of us here today and across Canada go unreservedly to all families of the victims and survivors.

Let me also mention here my strong respect and affection for the people of China generally. Canadians identify with their history, including their humiliation by major world powers during more than a century, with their hard work, patience, arts, language, poetry and literature, early exploration of much of the world, success with agriculture and many other accomplishments. We are delighted that more than a million Canadian citizens today are of origin in China.

People vs. Party-state

No-one should confuse the Chinese people with their unelected government. The differences many of us have with the latter in terms of human dignity, good governance, rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy have nothing to do with our regard for the former. The party-state of China persecutes large communities of its own citizens: Falun Gong, democracy activists, ethnic minorities, world religions - Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs and Christians, human rights defenders, journalists who write the truth, and internet bloggers. The government of China is among the worst human rights violators. In its encouragement of 'anything goes" capitalism over three decades, moreover, it has also allowed the air, soil and water to be polluted incredibly, against the health and esthetic needs of all Chinese people.

The Falun Gong community, which began in 1992 as a blend of ancient Chinese spiritual and exercise traditions, since mid-1999 has been persecuted more and worse than any other group. David Matas and I concluded in an independent study after examining 53 kinds of proof that since 2001 the government of China and its agencies have killed thousands of Falun Gong practitioners, without any form of prior trial, and then sold their vital organs for large sums of money, often to 'organ tourists' from wealthy countries (Our report is available in nineteen languages at www.organharvestinvestigation.net).

How the International Olympic Committee could award the 2008 Olympic Games to such a regime is thus difficult to understand. The focus in this talk is on its close partnerships with some of the most despotic governments on earth, which enable them to better oppress their own people and to increase thereby the risk to world peace in various regions of the world:

SUDAN

The genocide in Sudan's province of Darfur ongoing since April, 2003 has in all probability cost the lives of more than 400,000 African Darfurians from bombs, bullets and related causes, such as starvation. Beijing continues to assist Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir in numerous ways, including, financing and supplying arms in exchange for taking most of Sudan's oil production at much-reduced prices. It officially sold about $80 million in weapons, aircraft and spare parts to Sudan during 2005 alone. This included A-5 Fantan bomber aircraft, helicopter gunships, K-8 military attack aircraft and light weapons, all of which are found in Darfur, transferred there in violation of UN resolutions.

China's government has long used the threat of its permanent veto at the UN Security Council to block effective UN peace activities in Darfur. In reality, this veto and many innocent lives are being traded for cheap oil. Months ago, Bashir appointed Musa Hilal, the one-time leader of the murderous militia, the Janjaweed, 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." Not long ago, 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.

Darfur as "Crime Scene"

Bashir's refusal to accept the UN-proposed roster of troops and civilian police-contributing countries, including an engineering battalion from Sweden/ Norway, units from Nepal, and a fully-equipped operation from Thailand, reflect nothing other than his political decision to deny UNAMID the personnel essential for an effective peace mission in Darfur. Last week, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-O'Campo, told the Security Council: "The entire Darfur region is a crime scene", adding that 100,000 Dafurians had been displaced so far this year. Explaining his comparison to Nazi Germany, Ocampo added, according to the BBC, "Sudanese officials protect the criminals and not the victims. Denial of crimes, cover up, and attempts to shift responsibility are another characteristic of the criminal plan in Darfur." I hope Canada is supporting the long overdue Costa Rica initiative on Darfur underway now at the Security Council.

The ongoing support for the Darfur genocide by the government of China has caused serious doubts among thoughtful people everywhere about the Beijing Olympics so, as Eric Reeves documents, the party-state has launched a propaganda campaign to reposition itself as a "friend of Darfur." In this misinformation effort, no mention is made of China's tiny humanitarian assistance in Darfur or of the fact that numerous water sources in Darfur have been destroyed by Sudan's regular forces and its Janjaweed. Water sources are targeted by Khartoum's bombers; the Janjaweed have often denied civilian access to water points, and have raped women and girls as young as eight seeking to collect water for their desperate families. Darfurians generally seem well aware of Beijing's role in their ongoing torment and destruction.

Arming Khartoum

China's role as the primary supplier of weapons to Khartoum over the past decade for use in Darfur was the subject of an investigation by Amnesty International. Amnesty said in mid-2007: "The bulk [of the military and related equipment] was transferred from China and Russia, two Permanent Members of the Security Council. The governments of these supplier countries have been, or should have been, aware through the published and unpublished reports of the UN Panel of Experts to the UN Sanctions Committee on Sudan as well as the detailed report by Amnesty International published in November 2004 that several types of military equipment including aircraft have been deployed by the Sudanese armed forces and militia for direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks in Darfur, as well as for logistical support for these attacks."

There is mounting concern that the Khartoum-Beijing alliance will cause the UN peacekeeping force in Sudan to be as ineffective as it was in Rwanda and Bosnia. The ongoing role of the party-state in China across Darfur remains far from the conduct of a responsible member of the international community. Mia Farrow and many others are quite correct in linking its activities to the "Genocide Olympics". All concerned about this too must continue to 'name and shame' the Bashir and Hu-Wen governments about their joint inhumanity in Darfur before, during and after the Olympics. We might also target the accessible corporate sponsors of these Games, including Manulife, Visa, Kodak, Samsung, Panasonic, Omega, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, General Electric, John Hancock and Coca-Cola, making the obvious point that silence about human dignity implies acquiescence with the practices of the government of the host country.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, Mia Farrow, Steven Spielberg, Uma Thulman and many others have already stood up for human dignity at the 2008 Olympics. Is Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch not correct when she says that corporate sponsors, governments and National Olympic Committees should urge Beijing to improve human rights conditions in China? "Olympic corporate sponsors are putting their reputations at risk unless they work to convince the Chinese government to uphold the human rights pledges it made to bring the Games to Beijing," she said. "Human rights are under attack in China, and Olympic sponsors should use their considerable leverage to persuade Beijing to change policy." The rest of us should too. We are asking the government of China to honour the promises made when it bid for the Games. If you agree, please press our own government and our own national Olympic Committee to urge the government of China to fulfill it commitments.