ダルフール紛争と北京オリンピック

　ワシントンポストの「China to Send Military Unit to Darfur」が面白い。
-China will send a military engineering unit to help strengthen the overtaxed African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. A spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, did not say how many Chinese soldiers would be dispatched or what their duties would be, describing them as "multifunctional" military engineers.なのだそうだが、「国際社会が消火活動にいそしむスーダンにガソリンを撒く中・露 」に書いたような事情があったりして、- In recent weeks, the Darfur crisis has become particularly sensitive in China because of suggestions in the United States and Europe that people should boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics to demonstrate opposition to Chinese policies in Sudan.って空気になってきた。

　こりゃマズイと思った中国が一転国際協調のポーズをとりにきたということなんだけど、- Throughout the struggle, however, the Chinese government has insisted that whatever the United Nations does should first be approved by Bashir's government.というんだから基本的な姿勢を変える気はない、こういうことだな。

関連記事 
Chinese shadows(Boston Globe)
- Their reasons for helping the genocidal regime in Sudan avoid meaningful United Nations Security Council sanctions, or for voting against a Council resolution to censure the military junta in Burma, are more capitalist than communist. China's foreign policy is not driven by any quaint notions of solidarity with the wretched of the earth. Being the world's fastest-growing consumer of energy and having almost no oil of its own, China wants to ensure its access to oil and protect its large investments in foreign oil fields and oil-producing consortiums. So China has partnered with governments that kill their own people, using its state-owned companies to acquire interests in oil or natural gas reserves around the world.
- So the best way to deter China's rulers from being the principal enablers of genocide in Darfur or forced labor and ethnic cleansing in Burma is to name them and shame them as often as possible. The last thing China's rulers want is to have the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing branded with the name that many are trying to apply:the Genocide Olympics

Darfur conflict is close to "moment of truth": U.N. (Reuters)
- China, the biggest foreign investor in Sudan, denied the Amnesty accusations and said it would send military engineers as part of a U.N. package to support the AU force in Darfur. A Russian Foreign Ministry official also denied the charges. Amnesty said it was "deeply dismayed" by the flow of arms allowed by China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and said the weapons were often diverted to be used in conflict in Darfur and neighboring Chad.

- The fragmentation of the rebel groups along with government attacks against their positions have thwarted previous attempts to bring those factions to the negotiating table. But the semi-autonomous government of southern Sudan has said unity talks among the Darfur rebels could be held in the south by July. Several commanders have agreed in principle to attend, a group of independent mediators said.