Olympics as Leverage?
(Via. Publius Pundit) China is known for making business deals with regimes with odious human rights records. For the most part, China is willing to overlook abuses in its quest for resources. But it appears as the Olympics draw near, China appears to be looking into its business partners as a way to improve its image. Case in point, Darfur, Sudan
WASHINGTON, April 12 — For the past two years, China has protected the Sudanese government as the United States and Britain have pushed for United Nations Security Council sanctions against Sudan for the violence in Darfur.
But in the past week, strange things have happened. A senior Chinese official, Zhai Jun, traveled to Sudan to push the Sudanese government to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force. Mr. Zhai even went all the way to Darfur and toured three refugee camps, a rare event for a high-ranking official from China, which has extensive business and oil ties to Sudan and generally avoids telling other countries how to conduct their internal affairs.
So what gives? Credit goes to Hollywood — Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg in particular. Just when it seemed safe to buy a plane ticket to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, nongovernmental organizations and other groups appear to have scored a surprising success in an effort to link the Olympics, which the Chinese government holds very dear, to the killings in Darfur, which, until recently, Beijing had not seemed too concerned about.
So, how as activists are we going to take advantage of this window of opportunity to do some good for North Korean refugees? Do we need Hollywood celebs endorsing our cause? In this case the difficulty is compounded by the fact that the center of issue is within the borders of China. What will it take for China acknowledge that its even a problem?
As impossible as being able to find an answer, there is still a year before the commencement of the Summer Olympics. It’s important to take a chance, even if this window of opportunity does not exist.
