Darfur atrocities should dog Beijing

The Games should go on, as should the protests

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel became the first world leader to announce that she would not attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Though the German government gave no reason, Ms. Merkel recently caused sparks with the Chinese leadership by meeting publicly with the Dalai Lama amid Beijing's brutal crackdown in Tibet.

European governments are sending signals that, should the repression continue, Ms. Merkel will not be staying home alone.

As if China doesn't have enough problems managing its Tibet crisis, Beijing is about to have its brutal complicity in the Darfur atrocities brought to the American public's attention in a series of high-profile demonstrations intended to brand the summer games the "Genocide Olympics." True, it's unfair to indelibly stain the Olympic Games with the blood of Darfurians, but it's well worth countering Beijing's Olympics PR offensive with the ugly truth about its key role in the ongoing African genocide.

Chinese money and influence make possible the savage war Sudan's militant Islamist government is waging against its own people in Darfur province. China is Sudan's largest trading partner, is its arms dealer and last year gave President Omar al-Bashir money to build a new palace. And China runs interference for the Sudanese in the United Nations, using its Security Council veto to stave off sanctions against the nation for raping, pillaging and slaughtering more than 200,000 of its own people. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>