By Collette Kaplan
On the eve of the July 4th holiday, President Bush announced through his press secretary that he would attend the August 8th opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He stated that he does not view the Olympics as a political event; he views it as a sporting event. Embarrassing a government for the loss of 23 lives in Tibet, he noted, is not in our diplomatic best interests.
Conspicuous in its absence from the President’s explanation is the ongoing genocide in Darfur. That is a shame because President Bush is on record as recognizing the situation in Darfur for what it is, a genocide. The inconvenient fact is that the genocide in Darfur is ongoing because China gives the regime in Khartoum diplomatic cover. To date, more than 400,000 have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced and are living in refugee camps with no protection, little food or water and worse, little hope of returning to their homes.
China’s record on Darfur is shameful. Since 2003, Darfuris have been begging for someone to send a peacekeeping force with the size, equipment and mandate to protect them. In a breakthrough in August 2006, the U.N. passed Resolution 1706 authorizing just such a peacekeeping force. The government of Sudan balked and with the support of the Chinese, the U.N. backed down and passed a watered-down resolution in July 2007. A year later, there is still no effective peacekeeping force on the ground and the pace of the violence is increasing.
The International Criminal Court has indicted and issued an arrest warrant for the mastermind of the Darfur genocide, Ahmed Haroun. Haroun is Sudan’s “Minister of Humanitarian Affairs,” a position given to him to signal Khartoum’s defiance of the international community.
Instead of supporting Haroun’s arrest, China invited him to visit last month and gave him the “kings tour” of their provinces. Perhaps the Chinese were simply warming up to roll out the red carpet for the “A” list guests in August? But is this really a guest list that we want our President to join?
Where is the outrage?
Genocide is a serious international matter and any government that backs it should be called out for it. Any country that remains silent is a bystander and should be labeled as such. Both are worthy of criticism and shame.
I fail to see how tiptoeing around China’s offenses does us any good in the long run. It only makes us look weak. Our willingness to look the other way on China’s reprehensible support of the Khartoum regime only emboldens both Sudan and China in their defiance of world norms.
Americans are good people; we care about what is right and just. And certainly, this is not an easy issue. We understandably feel stretched in our capacity to stand up for another victimized people across the world. Nor is China likely to walk away from Khartoum willingly. No doubt, the rising price of oil and the significant supply that Sudan provides to China will strengthen China’s resolve to back its partner unless the pressure on China increases significantly. But tough issues are what define our moral character.
Perhaps we need a reminder that in 1936 Hitler hosted the Olympics in Nazi Berlin. It was a propaganda fest for the Fuhrer. While President Roosevelt did not attend, other world leaders did. Three years later, Hitler was rolling tanks through Eastern Europe and the death camps were soon to follow. For my money, President Roosevelt was right to decline the trip to Berlin.
These are different times. China is a different host and President Bush decided to attend on the rationale that constructive engagement is the wiser course. The dilemma now for the President is how to be a gracious guest without being a silent guest. President Bush was right to call Darfur a genocide. He knows that the Chinese are the difference-maker for a diplomatic solution in Darfur. Now is the time to insist that the visit is a two-way street. The Chinese need to deliver material concessions or President Bush should use the forum to call out China’s complicity in genocide. My guess is that President Bush hopes that he gets a pass. We should not let that happen.
Perhaps President Bush has not been given the message that genocide matters to us?
Last time I checked, the White House and the United Nations phone lines were open and taking our calls.
Submitted to the LA Times July 3, 2008
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