Mick Hartley

It may not be much, but it is at least a sign that China’s getting concerned about the bad publicity coming its way over Darfur:

Sudan’s key ally China has urged it to show greater flexibility in discussions over its war-torn Darfur region.
Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun told President Omar al-Bashir that he needed to do more to improve security, China’s state media reports…

The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says China is seen as the key in terms of trying to get the Sudanese government to change its mind on sending UN peacekeepers to Darfur.

He says China is Sudan’s most loyal friend and buys most of the crude oil it produces.

China sells military hardware to Khartoum and Chinese workers are building dams, roads and bridges across Sudan.

Thanks to its close ties with Beijing, Khartoum no longer has to worry about what the Western world says about the conflict in Darfur, our correspondent says.

Until now, China has refused to get involved in the Darfur conflict, but our correspondent says that position has shown some small signs of changing in recent months.

More here:

China urged Sudan on Monday to accept the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur, increasing the pressure on a key economic partner that Beijing has been criticized for protecting.
China’s assistant foreign minister, Zhai Jun, warned that putting too much pressure on Sudan could be counterproductive. But he said Sudan should accept the peacekeeping plan proposed last year by then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Is this, I wonder, in any way relevant?

China on Thursday blasted separate calls by a French politician and Mia Farrow to use the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

“We don’t think it is appropriate to link the Olympic Games in Beijing with the Darfur issue and we don’t think it will be popularly accepted or echoed by people around the world,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

“It is a totally misguided approach for people to link the Darfur issue with the Games and try to tip the balance in their favor in order to enhance their own reputation,” he said at a regular press briefing.