Truthfully, readers, I am tired of the shit-shoveling propaganda!
"Beijing wary amid charge against Sudan; Bashir indictment on genocide cause for 'grave concern'" by Chris Buckley, Reuters | July 16, 2008
BEIJING - China expressed "grave concern" yesterday after the International Criminal Court's prosecutor charged Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.
In Khartoum, the United Nations told its staff to stay at home as thousands of Sudanese rallied in support of Bashir.
China, a main investor in Sudan's oil industry and Khartoum's biggest arms supplier, also criticized the move.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular news conference in Beijing:
"China expresses grave concern and misgivings about the International Criminal Court prosecutor's indictment of the Sudanese leader. The ICC's actions must be beneficial to the stability of the Darfur region and the appropriate settlement of the issue, not the contrary."
China faces difficult choices over its relationship with Bashir just as the Beijing Olympics opens a soft spot for international pressure. Beijing has sought to balance its energy and political interests in Sudan with its desire for a respected seat at the table in Darfur peace efforts.
Some Western countries have called for respecting the ICC's decisions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in Berlin at a news conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
"We are committed to cooperating with the international court and we should strengthen its work by not criticizing it."
President Bush, in Washington, said Bashir's cooperation was necessary to ensure that more UN and African Union forces were sent to Darfur, referring to the joint mission that took over peacekeeping in Darfur in January:
"The United Nations needs to work with this current government to get those troops in to help save lives, an AU hybrid force."
The ICC prosecutor's accusations makes that balancing act harder, with all sides waiting to see if Beijing will seek to suspend the legal action via a UN Security Council decision.
He Wenping, an Africa specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading think tank in Beijing, did not expect China to move on its own to hold off the ICC, especially with Beijing determined to burnish its image with the Olympics:
"It will have many consequences that China won't like. Our own peacekeepers could be threatened, and also this will seriously impede China's space to mediate over Darfur and encourage dialogue between Sudan and the West."
In Khartoum, thousands of Sudanese rallied outside a UN office in the Sudanese capital, some on horses, in support of Bashir, a former army general who came to power in a coup in 1989. They chanted "[Prosecutor Luis Moreno-] Ocampo is a criminal."As are all UN personnel!
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Of course, China has its own housing woes (no, not the earthquake devastated regions):
"As Olympics near, many Chinese homes face wrecking ball; Worry, waiting for residents in key city areas" by Maureen Fan, Washington Post | July 16, 2008
BEIJING - As officials step up efforts to beautify Beijing, more than 1.25 million people in Beijing - at times as many as 13,000 people a week - have been evicted.
Yeah, never mind the FORECLOSURE CRISIS in AmeriKa, MSM!
Un-fucking-real!
These residents are facing an issue that surfaces in every Olympics, gentrification in the name of improving a city's image.
Doesn't necessarily have to be the Olympics, folks!
See: Rich and Homeless Living Together
Wang, jabbing the air: "It's all about money. Under a one-party dictatorship, ordinary people have to put up with being wronged."
Yu said: "If they come, we can do nothing but let them tear it down. When have you ever heard of the weak winning a case?"
Reminds me of the Connecticut folks who had their homes taken away by the courts to make way for a Wal-Mart, doesn't it?
Not far from Yu's house, two sisters are facing eviction from a home that has been in their family for six generations. The women and their families sleep in leaky rooms sandwiched between their half-demolished small restaurant and grocery store. The government has torn down houses on both sides.
The sisters have erected a large wooden sign declaring, "Protect property ownership in line with the constitution; guard your home until death." Above their front door, a smaller paper sign asks, "Where is the law of the God?"
Zhang Donghua, the younger sister's husband:
"The Olympic slogan is 'One World, One Dream.' The constitution protects the private property of citizens, and our livelihood depends on this place. . . . How can this represent one world, one dream?"
A court order says the Yu house will be demolished Sunday, but the family has staved off confrontations in the past by gathering television crews and citizens angry about evictions.
Nicholas Bequelin, a China researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch:
"There's apparently a notice from Beijing municipality that all these cases must be solved [by July 20] There are some cases about which nobody wants to take the responsibility of ordering or carrying out the actual eviction, which is telling about the lack of legal basis for many of these evictions."
Outside Beijing, compensation has been less generous, but authorities don't dare violate the law too visibly in the capital for fear of stoking even more public anger, said Zhang Xingshui, a lawyer who has defended several families and farmers in land cases.
WTF? Why would an authoritarian state be worried about protests?
WTF? They have protests in China?
In the countryside, illegal land grabs, corruption and collusion between developers and local officials have led to riots.
Zhang: "It's possible the government will take preemptive measures against activists, dissidents and evictees. They know this will conflict with the principle of the law, but they'll choose the less serious of the 'two harms,' and for the government, a smooth Olympics will be the top priority."
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Nothing about the earthquakes, huh, MSM?!
Like they never even happened, huh?
And while we are there, when was the last time an article was written about Burma?
Yeah, readers, I am tired of the agenda-pushing bullshit!
