By JT Nguyen Apr 14, 2007, 2:11 GMT
New York - China, in its efforts to shake off a bad record on human rights, has joined the international community to heap pressure on Sudan to end the ethnic conflict in Darfur that has killed hundreds of thousands of people in four years.
Sudan, ranked among countries with the worst human rights records, has been reluctant to admit more international peacekeepers under United Nations auspices, fearing wrongly a new wave of colonization.
But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was optimistic this week that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the UN have settled most of the sticking points and a hybrid force, combining African Union and UN peacekeepers, could move forward.
On Monday and Tuesday, Ban is to meet African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare at UN headquarters in New York to set the future course for the deployment of 20,000 UN military personnel to bolster flagging efforts by the smaller AU force now there.
It's not exactly clear what brought about the change in tune from Khartoum, but onlookers and some US officials are crediting China with much of the success - a change that has come about not only on Sudan but also on other international conflicts as Beijing's role as host to the 2008 Summer Olympics Games draws near.
They say China is keen on building international support and receiving recognition as a worthy nation with newly gained political and economic clout.
China has already set a noticeable change of course over the past year, ending decades of opposition to sanctions against UN members by supporting tough targeted sanctions against nuclear programmes in North Korea and Iran.
On Darfur, China has used its power as one of five veto holders on the UN Security Council to hold up sanctions, a stance attributed to its growing need for Sudan's oil to help fuel its rapidly expanding export economy. China spent 1.5 billion dollars buying half of Sudan's oil in 2006 alone, and has made massive investments in Sudan's energy infrastructure.
Despite this leverage, Beijing for the most part looked away when Sudan was accused of committing genocide in Darfur over the past four years.
But the world took note as China's President Hu Jintao visited Khartoum in February to sign economic deals, including building oil pipelines and a new presidential palace for al-Bashir. During the visit, Hu called on Sudan to accept the UN-AU peacekeeping force.
More recently, in a rare show of recognition of the seriousness of the crisis in western Sudan, Zhai Jun, a senior Beijing official, toured refugee camps in Darfur for a first-hand look at the situation. Khartoum is charged with backing militia who have killed more than 300,000 people and displaced another 2.5 million.
'I know the Chinese have already played a constructive role,' Andrew Natsios, Washington's special envoy to Sudan, told a US Senate panel earlier this week discussing China's 'quiet diplomacy.'
'We have indications at this point that the Chinese are now taking even a more aggressive role than they have in the past,' Natsios said. 'I think the Chinese actually may be the critical factor that led to the Sudanese reversing their position.'
Much pressure has been brought to bear on China to push Khartoum. Before Hu's trip in February, the US sent a special envoy to Beijing, and Germany, as current president of the European Union and G8, has also applied pressure.
In addition, Hollywood has taken on the cause, led by actress Mia Farrow, who has launched a campaign to label the Beijing Games the 'Genocide Olympics.'
She recently warned blockbuster producer and director Steven Spielberg in a Wall Street Journal commentary that Spielberg - an artistic adviser to China's Olympics - could 'go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games.'
Riefenstahl was the German filmmaker who made Nazi propaganda films, most notably about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin. According to The New York Times, Spielberg sent a letter to Hu shortly thereafter pressing for action on Darfur.
The Chinese embassy in Washington however dismissed any Hollywood linkage on the visit, The Times reported.
Next week's discussions at the UN will be joined by German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier. The US has already imposed unilateral sanctions on Khartoum.
During Ban's visit to Khartoum earlier this month, he reportedly had a harsh exchange of words with al-Bashir late at night.
Ban said earlier this week that most differences were settled.
'That was a part of our agreement between myself and President (Omar) al-Bashir, particularly under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian king, we have been able to agree on most of the issues, except one,' he said.
The remaining point is the use of helicopter gunships by the UN force, which Khartoum fears could be used as attack helicopters.
'We are going to continue to clarify on that particular issue, where they still have concerns,' Ban said, adding that African military leaders will lead the hybrid force, which should allay al-Bashir's concerns over neo-colonialism in Africa.
Salim Ahmed Salim of the AU, who negotiated a peace agreement in Darfur last year, and UN special envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson, will also attend.
In the meantime, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with Sudanese officials in in Khartoum in what was billed as a final push to deploy UN peacekeepers in embattled Darfur. Negroponte was to travel to Darfur on Saturday.
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