Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir says he will allow U.N. aid in Darfur after three years of thumbing his nose at the U.N. and blocking humanitarian work there. Today he says he’ll accept what a “heavy support package” including 3,000 well-equipped military police, six attack helicopters, and other aviation and logistics into Darfur.
What does Mia Farrow have to do with this? Quite a lot, believe it or not. As a good-will ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund, she launched a campaign last month to coax (or shame) China’s leaders into cooperation, as I blogged on Friday, by linking the genocide to the Beijing 2008 Games. China had until then used its permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council to thwart international sanctions on Sudan. (More than half of Sudan’s oil exports go to China, and Beijing is the Sudan’s leading arms supplier.) But upon Farrow’s suggestion, Steven Spielberg sent a letter of concern to the officials he is working with as artistic adviser to China on the Games. Within days China dispatched a diplomat to the Sudan. It’s possible that this recent step is just lip service. But even so, it has major ramifications. It’s a sign that China cares more about its reputation as an ethical, rising global power than any sleazy oil source.
