More strategic unhelpfulness out of China.
From the article:
The BBC has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan’s government militarily in Darfur.
The Panorama TV programme tracked down Chinese army lorries in the Sudanese province that came from a batch exported from China to Sudan in 2005.
The BBC was also told that China was [...]

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As drylands get drier and violence grows, new crises resembling Darfur will arise.
The world will experience a growing risk of conflicts over food, energy and water in coming years. The population rises each year by about 80 million people, with most of the increase in impoverished regions already facing environmental stress. Climate change, water scarcity [...]

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With energy demand spiking, China looks for answers in Africa. But Western investment and influence still dominate the continent’s oil market.
As global demand for energy continues to rise, major players like the United States, European Union (EU), and Japan are facing a new competitor in the race to secure long-term energy supplies: China. As its [...]

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The world is in a state of flux. China is growing rapidly, but is very unstable. Russia has been doing much better economically in the last few years, but there are storm clouds on the horizon. Russia oil output looks like it may start to decline shortly. The Russian military machine is decaying faster than [...]

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They’re educated, richer and more aggressive toward the West.
As human rights protesters dogged the Beijing Olympics’ torch relay around the world, as supporters of Tibet condemned the violent crackdown in Lhasa, and as Darfur activists demanded change in China’s Sudan policy, Chinese young people worked themselves into a different form of righteous anger. In online [...]

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Tibetans have a strong case against Beijing. But mixing it in with the Olympics and Darfur is a red rag to a wounded young bull.
Nationalism is more often aroused by setbacks than success, so the Tibet problems and the possible threats to a triumphal Olympics are stirring it in China.
On the horizon is the possibility [...]

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Chinese sales of assault rifles and other small arms to its ally Sudan have grown rapidly during the Darfur conflict despite a U.N. arms embargo, a human rights group said on Thursday.
Human Rights First, a U.S.-based nonprofit group, said a detailed study of Sudanese and U.N. trade data showed that China was virtually the [...]

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SUPPLYING WEAPONS. Since 1996, Beijing has been Khartoum’s primary supplier of weapons, military supplies, and weapons technology. Using Chinese-generated oil revenues (and anticipated oil revenues), Khartoum has purchased large quantities of military aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and much else that fills the deadly arsenal destined for Darfur. China also helped to improve [...]

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China yielded last week to international pressure and appointed an envoy for African Affairs. The hope in Western capitals is that Liu Guijin, a former ambassador to Zimbabwe, will persuade the Sudanese government to end the crisis in its Darfur region. Why are we looking toward China to solve a crisis thousands of miles from [...]

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King Abdullah brushes aside the United States and seeks to take the lead in a strife-torn Middle East.
Yet now, say senior Saudi princes and members of the government, Abdullah has grown so angry and “emotional” about the disasters confronting the region that he’s decided to take on a new role. No longer will Saudi Arabia [...]

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