EDITORIAL
China's President Hu Jintao surprised some observers when he had some uncharacteristically blunt words for visiting Sudanese vice-president Ali Oman Taha, telling him to "push forward the peacekeeping mission and political process in a balanced manner" to end the conflict which features government-backed militias on the one side and rebel groups on the other, with the vulnerable populace of the Darfur region of the country in between.
Mr Hu's remarks coincide with an effort on the part of some of the membership of the UN Security Council to take fresh action on Darfur, following a presentation by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in which he described the entire region as a "crime scene" and said bombings carried out by the government had resulted in the displacement of 100,000 people so far this year.
The total number of deaths in the Sudanese region of Darfur may have risen to as high as 300,000 in the five years since violence broke out, according to new figures from one top UN official.
In the runup to this summer's Beijing Olympics, Darfur has been a major area of embarrassment for the Chinese because of its close relationship with Sudan as a primary purchaser of Sudanese oil. The focus was taken off Darfur, however, first by the widespread protests against Chinese rule in Tibet and then by the cataclysmic and tragic earthquake in China.
This loss of focus may have made it easier for the Chinese president to make his remarks without the appearance of allowing Western powers to dictate his actions.
In any case, Mr Hu's words are highly welcomed, but it remains to be seen if they will be backed up with appropriate actions.
This means first and foremost that China show proof that it has severed any military assistance or cooperation with Khartoum.
According to human rights groups like Amnesty International, China is still a major supplier of small arms to the government, albeit indirectly. Under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March 2005, an embargo is in place on the supply of arms to all parties in the conflict in Darfur. China as well as the Sudanese government deny the charges levelled by Amnesty and other groups.
On the whole, it must be said that of late China has taken a more active role in pushing for peace in Darfur, as evidenced by its appointing a special envoy to focus on the region and agreeing to UN Security Council Resolution 1769, which set up the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (Unamid) in July of 2007.
Yet the Chinese government is still being accused of blunting the force of Resolution 1769, which allows the Sudanese government to undermine the deployment of the Unamid force. The resolution calls for 26,000 peacekeepers; at present there are only around 10,000.
According to the website savedarfur.org, "Khartoum has dragged out negotiations over key issues for months on end, using the cloak of technical issues to stall its deployment.
"Khartoum has refused to accept most non-African Union troops, going back on earlier agreements; delayed and then watered down the Status of Forces agreement; and refused to grant unimpeded access for humanitarians."
In essence what China is still being accused of is allowing economic and geopolitical considerations, i.e., its energy needs, to override humanitarian concerns.
While deplorable, it must be admitted that the list of nations that could also be accused of such a transgression is quite long, and contains other permanent members of the Security Council as well.
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