The US House of Representatives urged China on Tuesday to use its influence and economic leverage to stop what US President George W. Bush has called the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
The lawmakers charged that China, which buys much of Sudan's oil, has stood in the way of halting bloodshed in the western Sudanese region, but stopped short of joining calls to boycott the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing made by some politicians, activists and celebrities.
"China should act consistently with the Olympic standard of preserving human dignity in Darfur, Sudan and around the world," said the resolution passed by the House on a vote of 410-0.
The resolution urged China to stop selling Sudan arms and suspend economic cooperation with Sudan until it "stops its attacks on civilians" in Darfur and engages in negotiations with Darfur rebels to achieve a peace deal.
The House resolution is nonbinding, but expresses the sentiments of lawmakers angry that China has continued its economic dealings with Sudan and defended it against international efforts to impose sanctions over years of strife in Darfur.
"There is no way to sugarcoat this. China is the principal trading partner of a genocidal regime that has thumbed its nose at the international community," Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat and sponsor of the resolution, said during the debate.
"This resolution is a wake-up call to the Chinese government: The United States Congress is monitoring China's collaboration with Sudan's repressive regime. And we will not stand idly by,"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.
China, which has veto power on the UN Security Council, has urged the international community to show patience with Sudan, saying the sanctions will hurt efforts for peace in Darfur.
Beijing opposes sending UN peacekeepers to Darfur -- where the UN estimates that fighting by government-linked militias and rebel groups has killed 200,000 people and forced 2 million more to flee their homes -- without Khartoum's consent.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said yesterday it was using satellite technology to monitor Darfur in a bid to prevent future attacks on civilians.
Amnesty is inviting people worldwide to help protect 12 villages considered at risk of attacks by the Janjaweed militia by monitoring images on the project's Web site at www.eyesondarfur.org.
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty USA, said the group wanted to send a message to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir that the world was watching.
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS