The Deadly Link between China and Sudan
As a world leader and close ally of the government of Sudan, China has both the responsibility and influence to help bring the crisis in Darfur to an end.
China is Sudan's largest trading partner and its largest oil customer, buying some two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports. China is also a major supplier of weapons to Sudan, providing an estimated 90 percent of the small arms Khartoum has purchased since 2004. China does so with the full knowledge that Khartoum continues to violate a U.N. arms embargo prohibiting the transfer of weapons into Darfur.
Due to its multilayered interests, China has acted as Sudan's protector on the U.N. Security Council and enabled Khartoum to continue its genocidal campaign in Darfur.
An Olympic Opportunity
The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing offer a unique opportunity to spotlight China's complicity in the Darfur crisis and to urge China to use its influence with Khartoum to help bring an end to the genocide.
China is using the occasion of the Games to prove that it is a player on the international stage. The Olympic slogan, "One World, One Dream," is meaningless if China does not take action to stop the genocide in Darfur.
AJWS is calling on the government of China to end the sale of arms to Sudan, publicly condemn the violence in Darfur, and ask the president of Sudan to immediately facilitate the full deployment of peacekeeping forces. Add your voice today.
Background
Arms, Oil, and Darfur: The Evolution of Relations between China and Sudan (Small Arms Survey)
PetroChina, CNPC, and Sudan: Perpetuating Genocide (Sudan Divestment Task Force)
Investing in Tragedy: China's Money, Arms, and Politics in Sudan (Human Rights First)
China: Sustaining Conflict and Human Rights Abuses (Amnesty International)
China, Africa, and Oil (Council on Foreign Relations)
China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy (U.S. Department of State)
Sudan doubles crude exports to China in 2007 (Reuters, January 2008)
A Palace For Sudan (Washington Post, February 2007)
Pressure, sanctions not helpful for resolving Darfur issue (Xinhua, February 2008)
