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.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
APPORTIONING BLAME: The US president said that there were ‘millions of people dead because of three people’ — Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy US President Donald Trump on Monday resumed his attempts to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump — who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelenskiy six weeks ago — said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. Trump told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin No. 1, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and
RSS