China could be taking a few cautious steps in the right direction on Sudan this week, urging Khartoum to accept a UN force to stem the killings in Darfur. Like China Redux says, Better late than never.

At least 200,000 people have died over the past four years, according to the AP, and another 2.5 million displaced. During that time, China has protected Sudan from calls for intervention. Beijing has strong business ties to the African pariah and a squeamishness toward violating other nations’ sovereignty.

The Olympics may have been the key, says a NYT/IHT piece. A campaign by Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg effectively held the games hostage:

Farrow, a UN good-will ambassador, has played a crucial role, starting a campaign last month to label the Games in Beijing the “Genocide Olympics” and calling on corporate sponsors and even on Spielberg, who is an artistic adviser to China for the Games, to exhort China publicly to do something about Darfur.

Credit for making Beijing budge goes beyond the two, I’m sure. Still, it’s good to see China stepping up. I was surprised, however, to see a post on Danwei criticizing Farrow and Spielberg:

But Farrow’s rhetoric and strategy are shameful. “Genocide” — like “rape” — isn’t a word to throw around carelessly, and whatever else might be said of the Chinese government’s dealings with the Sudan, China isn’t committing genocide in Darfur. Chinese businesses aren’t even collaborating — as IBM did with the Third Reich — or profiteering — as Swiss banks did during the Holocaust. What the Chinese are doing is buying Sudan’s oil.

And blocking deployment of UN peace keepers while Khartoum makes excuses. Let’s not forget that.

Farrow therefore condemns China for “bankrolling Darfu’s genocide,” but even this accusation fails. China isn’t giving the Sudan money for the purpose of killing people in Darfur; China is conducting business with a government that uses some of those business proceeds for despicable ends. The distinction is important: responsibility for Darfur must rest squarely on the shoulders of Sudan’s government. As such, calling the Beijing Games the “Genocide Olympics” is unforgivably irresponsible.

The post’s author, Maya Alexandri, then lumps on America for the Iraq war and says China’s involvement in Africa has generated “hand-wringing about the emergence of a Chinese superpower.” Interesting points. Relevant? No.

Whatever culpability the United States has for inaction, it is one shared with the rest of the world. China isn’t standing in the way of genocide, either, and it has leverage on Sudan that other nations do not. This is becoming a familiar scenario: China is the lynch pin of an international crisis, where it may have to choose between immediate economic gains and long-term global stability.

There is much happening with Darfur that is unforgivable. Calling out Beijing for protecting a genocidal regime is hardly one of them.

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