Jack & Jill Politics

I like to take note when Congressional Black Caucus members show real leadership. So here’s part of the story from the Politico Crypt on Rep. Maxine Waters’ just-introduced resolution, inspired by Bill Richardson no doubt, to turn up the heat on China’s financial support of Khartoum’s criminal, genocidal regime. The comments are mixed — many are supportive with some asking why American athletes must be punished. I’d like to think that American athletes would want to add their voices to the campaign to stop the genocide. It would be nice to hear of athletes and corporate sponsors willing to put pressure on China, for whom the Olympics are a huge deal.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution as Congress prepared to break for the August recess Saturday, urging President Bush to boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Waters and others involved in the effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where an estimated 200,000 people have died and millions more are homeless, want to pressure China to curtail its support of the Sudanese government.

Sudan earned about $4 billion from oil sales last year, with 80 percent of that coming from China, according to Fortune magazine. Chinese firms also have helped build up the country’s infrastructure, leading to an economic boom in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and China has stepped up arms sales to the strife-ravaged nation.

Western human-rights groups are pressuring China to cut or reduce its ties to the government of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. And China has responded to some of the pressure. But a U.S. boycott of the Olympics would be a major blow to a showcase event designed to highlight China’s ascendancy as a world power.