China Darfur envoy defends policy

China vigorously defended its policy on Darfur on Friday against critics seeking to link Beijing's close relations with Sudan to this summer's Olympic Games.

Liu Guijin, China's special envoy for Darfur, said Beijing was working hard to help end the humanitarian crisis in the troubled Sudanese region, where five years of fighting between rebels and government troops and allied militia has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced 2.2 million since 2003.

"The linking of the Darfur issue to the Beijing Olympic Games is not reasonable," Liu told reporters after a trip to Darfur.

Liu said there was nothing improper about Beijing's close relations with Khartoum, including China's large-scale purchases of Sudanese oil.

Liu urged the Sudanese government of President Omar Al-Bashir to show more "flexibility" in the face of new fighting in Darfur's western region near the border with Chad. He also urged Western nations not to "send the wrong signals" to rebel groups that could encourage them to keep fighting in hopes of gaining greater advantage.

Liu's 90-minute news conference was remarkable for both its length and thoroughness, an indication of Beijing's determination to overturn perceptions that it is responsible for prolonging the violence in Darfur.

The communist government is anxious to defuse any issue that could substantially tarnish the Olympic Games' image. Moves by pressure groups to prod China to use its influence with Sudan by invoking the Olympics have set off an unprecedented display of public diplomacy by Beijing.

Liu denounced efforts by groups seeking to tarnish the Olympic Games by linking them to the Darfur issue.

"Some individuals have been using some individual issues to try to defame the Chinese government through the issue of the Olympic Games. Those attempts will go nowhere," Liu said.

Liu said he believed China's efforts were having an effect and offered to meet with all "reasonable" critics of Beijing's Sudan policies.

The push to link the Beijing Games to the Darfur crisis gained wide attention last month when Hollywood director Steven Spielberg said he could not in good conscience serve as an artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies.

Liu said he was surprised by Spielberg's announcement because he had met with Spielberg in September, at which time Beijing's invitation to him to help with the Beijing Games had already expired.

"What happened later was unexpected to me," Liu said.

Liu said China's economic ties to Sudan, particularly its oil purchases, had helped push the country's economic growth to the highest level of any African country.

He said China was not the largest arms provider to Khartoum, as some critics have charged, saying it was just one of seven nations selling weapons to Sudan.

Liu, who has visited Darfur four times, said he would continue to travel there even after the Olympics, if necessary.

He said Beijing's stance on ending the Darfur crisis was not substantially different from those of Western nations, although China placed a greater stress on respecting Sudan's sovereignty and national security concerns.

Liu said Chinese army engineers had made substantial progress in digging wells and making other preparations for the arrival of a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. The 26,000-member force has been delayed by an array of technical and political issues. Liu said the biggest obstacle was the lack of helicopters to facilitate the deployment of troops.

So far, China is the only non-African country with peacekeeping forces on the ground in Darfur.

United States this week launched a new initiative to tackle remaining obstacles to sending the rest of the hybrid force.