May
7
Beijing arming Sudan: “Made in China” label on the killing grounds of Darfur
Filed Under China, Darfur, Genocide | Leave a Comment
From a recent report by Human Rights First, “Investing in Tragedy: China’s money, arms and politics in Sudan”
Through its growing oil revenues, the government of Sudan has also been able to expand its purchasing of arms, which are being used to sustain the violence in Darfur. For decades China has sold Sudan arms, but its small arms exports to Sudan have increased significantly in the last several years. From 1999 to 2005, a period that includes the start of the Darfur crisis, Sudan’s imports of small arms increased by 680 percent, and from 2004 to 2006, China made up an average of 90 percent of those small arms sales to Sudan. From 2003 to 2006, China sold over $55 million worth of small arms to Khartoum.
In order to protect its client regime, Beijing uses its clout on the UN Security Council to give Khartoum political cover. The report continues:
China has also provided robust political support for the government of Sudan in spite of the violence in Darfur. This is clearly demonstrated in the way China has repeatedly obstructed United Nation Security Council efforts to take action to stop the violence in Darfur by threatening to veto resolutions addressing the conflict. Between 2004 and 2007, the Security Council debated 14 substantive resolutions about Darfur, and China used its power to weaken nine of them. On most occasions, China forced the removal of tough language, including the threat or imposition of targeted economic sanctions.
Beijing and Khartoum, a match made in…well, it sure isn’t heaven.
Human Rights First also has an online petition to stop arms sales to Sudan.