UNITED STATES CONGRESS MAKING AN EFFORT ~ WHERE IS PRESIDENT BUSH? WALK THE TALK

Taking refuge

In case your local news media didn't print this article or anything about it, here is something the United States Congress did today. President Bush has mentioned Darfur once in a while over the years, but the genocide continues through all his words.

Lawmakers Urge China to Help in Darfur

By ANDREW MIGA

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 100 House members are urging China to take stronger action to end the violence in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

A letter Tuesday signed by 120 lawmakers called on President Hu Jintao of China to use his "significant influence" with the government of Sudan to help advance peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in Darfur.

"Without a much stronger effort from the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to convince the government of Sudan to end its obstruction, the real-though-limited progress made during the past year will be undone, and the possibility of an expanded regional crisis beyond Darfur's borders will continue to grow," the lawmakers wrote. The group was predominantly Democratic, but included 20 Republicans.

Human rights activists have accused China of being partly responsible for Darfur's chaos because of its staunch diplomatic backing of the Sudanese government.

The open letter comes six months before China will host the summer Olympics in Beijing, noted Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., co-chair of the Congressional Sudan Caucus.

"We must do everything we can to end the genocide and deliver assistance to the millions of people who live in fear every day," Capuano said.

In a separate letter to the Chinese president, Darfur activists Tuesday cited the Olympics and condemned Beijing's support for Sudan's government.

"As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approach, we will continue to call on the Chinese government for action," said the letter, signed by eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates, 13 Olympic athletes and 46 parliamentarians, along with celebrities including actress Mia Farrow and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

"We are aware of the tremendous potential for China to help bring an end to the conflict in Darfur," said in the letter, which criticized Beijing's support for Sudan at the United Nations and said China's robust trade with the country was underwriting abuses in Darfur.

Five years of fighting between Sudan's Arab-dominated government and Darfur's ethnic African rebels have killed over 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million to refugee camps, mostly black African civilians. Arab militias allied with the government have been blamed for many of the atrocities; the government denies backing them.

Energy-hungry China is Sudan's key political and economic ally, investing in the country and importing over two-thirds of its oil output.

China has sold weapons to the Sudanese government. Since fighting broke out in Darfur in 2003, it repeatedly used its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to prevent tough measures against Sudan.

China says it plays a constructive role in seeking to resolve the Darfur conflict.

China last year began deploying 315 non-combat troops to Darfur to prepare for a proposed 26,000-member African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force that has been delayed in part by the Sudanese president's insistence that participating troops be predominantly African.

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