NEW YORK—Crossing more than 12 city blocks, hundreds of college students, activists, and concerned New Yorkers formed a human chain through Midtown Manhattan on Saturday, literally and figuratively connecting the Chinese and the Sudanese regimes. The chain stretched between the Sudanese Mission to the United Nations on 47th Street and the Chinese Mission on 35th Street, and was part of activities held to draw attention to China's increasing support and aid to the Sudanese government—a government that the U.S. Congress and U.S. State Department have said is committing genocide.
"With this human chain, we are exposing the Chinese government for its complicity towards the genocide in Darfur," said Katie Savin, a student at New York University and co-organizer of the event. "The Chinese government, in order to safeguard its interest in Sudanese oil, has not only turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Sudanese government, but has offered its genocidal trading partner protection in the United Nations Security Council."
Protesters chanted, "The blood in Sudan is on China's hands" and "China, China, the world is watching you," as they held a metal chain, and then linked hands and marched down the street.
Chinese leader Hu Jintao visited Sudan last month, canceling $70 million in Sudanese debt to China and giving the Sudanese government a $13 million interest-free loan to build a new presidential palace.
Reports out of Sudan indicate that under the direction of the Sudanese government, Arab militias have killed tens of thousands of people—if not hundreds of thousands—and have displaced millions from their homes in the Darfur region of Sudan.
While other governments have criticized the genocide in Darfur, Chinese leaders have called on other nations to respect Sudan's "sovereignty," the same phrase used by the Chinese Communist Party to shield their own continuingly atrocious human rights record—which includes the persecution of democracy advocates, Falun Gong, House Christians, and Tibetans—from the rest of the world.
"China is obviously aware of what is going in Sudan," said Savin.
Seventy percent of Sudan's oil is exported to China. Harvard University and Yale University, among others, have divested millions of dollars from Chinese companies like PetroChina that essentially pump money into the Sudanese government.
Divesting, the opposite of investing, is being used as a tool by universities, students and state governments in peacefully leveraging against the genocide.
Globally conscious college and high school students from as far away as Boston, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia traveled to the event and voiced their concern.
Spencer Lawrence, a high school senior from Boston, had a message for the Chinese regime. "[China's] actions are being known and recognized by the international community…they're not getting away with this."
Tufts University student and co-organizer Sabina Carlson also came from Boston. "Our generation knows like no other that our world is inextricably interconnected. Today we can no longer pretend that the suffering in Darfur has no effect on our lives, and that our lives can have no effect on the suffering in Darfur," she said.
Supporters such as Queens Councilman Eric Gioia and actress Mia Farrow spoke at a rally held for the cause.
"New York City, as the global capital, can send a strong, clear message that we will not support any companies that fund the genocide in Darfur," said Gioia.
New York Assemblymembers Darryl C. Towns and James F. Brennan and State Senators Joseph E. Robach and John L. Sampson are introducing legislation in the New York State government that would divest state employees' pension funds from companies that do business directly with the Sudanese government. The divestment would only be from companies that fail to benefit civilians outside of government-controlled circles and fail to take any serious corporate action. It would do nothing to harm New York's investment returns, they promised.
Like visible symbols of China's unethical practices, the Darfur protesters crossed paths Saturday afternoon with thousands of China protestors who showed up to commemorate Tibetan National Uprising Day. They were protesting long-standing human rights abuses against Tibetans by the Chinese communist regime.
Feeds