Madam, - Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern cannot be serious in suggesting that Ethiopia has any potential to influence Sudan to halt the unfolding holocaust in Darfur (The Irish Times, September 18th). The only country with such influence in Khartoum is China, which is the largest investor in Sudan's oil industry and its largest customer, taking approximately 80 per cent of its output.
China provides not only arms but also effectively bankrolls the genocidal Sudanese regime through trade and investment. Therefore, Ireland must expose the Chinese government's role in Sudan if we are serious about helping to save the people of Darfur from a "final solution".
While China does not have to worry about public opinion at home, thanks to ruthless and systematic censorship and autocratic political control, it is concerned about its global reputation.
According to reports, a debate is going on among China's foreign policy elite, with progressives arguing that Beijing should cut its ties with Khartoum, both because it would be the right thing to do and because China's oil interests in Sudan are not worth the cost of the country being labelled an abetter of genocide. Conservatives maintain that China is being singled out as a part of a Western strategic conspiracy.
If Mr Ahern is serious about standing up for the hundreds of thousands of defenceless Darfuri, he will voice the concerns of the Irish people in uncompromising terms directly to the Chinese government. - Yours, etc,
RONAN TYNAN,
Esperanza Productions,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.