As China has grown, so has its need for cheap oil. The oil fields of Sudan fill this need, but at a price. In return for oil, the Chinese government has helped to finance and arm the Government of Sudan-backed genocide in Darfur. As well, the Chinese government, as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has hampered the international community’s attempts to address the crisis. Even as the UN joins the struggling African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, the Chinese government is working to ensure that the most restrictive interpretation of the peacekeeping mandate is followed. China needs oil to power its economic growth, and its government is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless Africans to do so.
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games—”One World, One Dream”—area an opportunity to highlight the connection between the governments of China and Sudan. So, when water-cooler talk turns to the upcoming Olympics, remember this: the Beijing Olympics are the Genocide Olympics.
Further reading: The Genocide Olympics by Eric Reeves.
Aidan Findlater Impersonal china, darfur, genocide, Olympics
In our society, we have detectives who investigate a crime, lawyers who prosecute the offenders and judges who sentence them. If a crime is in progress, we call the police; we are not expected to stop it ourselves—unless it’s genocide. This is the distinction that the Genocide Convention makes, in its very first article:
Article 1
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Simply defining a crime does not compel action by third parties. The Genocide Convention does. (This is essentially the “Good Samaritan” law in the Seinfeld finale.)
The reason governments don’t want to recognize Darfur as genocide is because they would then be required, by law, to intervene. I believe that intervention would otherwise be illegal without a UN Security Council resolution.
Now, if we had a proper international police force and not just the ICC, things might be different.
That’s my understanding of the situation, anyway.
Aidan Findlater Impersonal darfur, genocide
