Darfur exposes moral bankruptcy

China's repugnant stance and global inaction to blame for failure to stop world's worst humanitarian crisis

It is frustrating enough to watch the charade played by the international community over the suffering in Darfur. However, it is downright disgusting to see China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, trying to protect the Sudanese government in Khartoum, thus undermining the move by the world body to impose sanctions to force an end to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, which has dragged on for more than four years.

China, which imports two-thirds of Sudan's oil output and is a key supplier of arms to this North African country, stands accused of placing its self-interests before global humanitarian concerns. For a country that aspires to superpower status and a place of pride in the international community, China must exert whatever influence it has over Khartoum to quickly resolve the Darfur crisis - not to prolong it.


But the international community must also share the blame for allowing the killing and raping of internally displaced Sudanese refugees, which continues to take place in Sudan's western region of Darfur where at least 200,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in fighting between government-backed militias known as the Janjaweed and rebels since 2003. Read more >>>>>>>>>