Update on April 2007 GOTB Darfur Action
Chinese Mission to the UN

     On April 20, 2007, Amnesty’s Get On The Bus protesters gathered outside of the Chinese Mission to the UN for two complimentary reasons: one was to protest China’s continued underwriting of the atrocities being committed in Darfur through its economic and political support of the Sudanese Government, and the other was to engage China to use its influence as Sudan’s most important trading partner to encourage country’s government to accept United Nations Peacekeeping troops and to allow for humanitarian access to the suffering people of Darfur.

     This was launched alongside of several other campaigns, including Amnesty’s National Week of Student Action centered on the Darfur-China connection, in addition to many non-Amnesty campaigns, such as the Genocide Olympics campaign, the nation-wide divestment campaigns, Chain2China, and a general increase of awareness surrounding this brutal partnership.

     As of today, the situation has not improved adequately, although progress is being made. On April 21, the day after GOTB, China released a statement “taking credit for its role in persuading the Sudanese government to accept an international peacekeeping force to stop the killings in Darfur”, according to Inter Press Service, however still, “determined to prevent further sanctions on a country in which it has massive investments”. According to the US Department of State, Andrew Natsios told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee April 11 that the Chinese "have been largely supportive of our efforts to resolve the Darfur situation through peaceful means and have been publicly encouraging Khartoum" to allow African Union (AU) and U.N. peacekeepers into the western province of Sudan. Chinese President Hu Jintao, during a recent visit to Khartoum, "encouraged Bashir to show flexibility and allow the AU-U.N. hybrid force to be deployed," Natsios said.  However, according to a very recent report by Amnesty International, China is actually continuing to sell arms to the Sudanese government which are being used to perpetuate the atrocities in Darfur. And not only is the Chinese government directly, physically fueling the conflict to date, it also has not taken significant, decisive, real steps towards pressuring the Sudanese government beyond simple diplomatic pleasantries.

     At this point the Darfur movement acknowledges the small steps China has taken on behalf of the people of Sudan, but is calling on China to do a great deal more and is actively condemning China’s continued participation in and support of the atrocities being committed by the Sudanese Government against the people of Darfur.