Olympics used to put pressure on China over continued arming of Sudan

China is “financing, diplomatically protecting and supplying the arms for the first genocide of the 21st century,” columnist Nicholas D. Kristof asserted in The New York Times on Thursday.

In exchange for access to Sudanese oil, China has sold $83 million in weapons, aircraft and spare parts to the country – essential for Sudan’s invasion of Chad last year. China is also using its diplomatic power as a member of the U.N. Security Council to block action against Sudan.

This has led to a growing campaign to dub the sporting events of 2008 “The Genocide Olympics.”

“This is not a boycott of the Olympics,” says Kristof. “But expect Darfur-related protests at Chinese Embassies, as well as banners and armbands among both athletes and spectators. There’s a growing recognition that perhaps the best way of averting hundreds of thousands more deaths in Sudan is to use the leverage of the Olympics to shame China into more responsible behavior.”

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