China steps up response to Darfur

China, under increasing pressure to do more in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, said Thursday that it was appointing an envoy dedicated to the crisis.

The move came after a group of U.S. politicians demanded that China step up its efforts to persuade the Sudanese government to stop the bloodletting.

It also followed the release of an Amnesty International report this week that accuses China and Russia of breaching a United Nations arms embargo by selling weapons to Sudan. Both countries denied the allegations.

“We hope to solve the issue by political means,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. “We are ready to make joint efforts with the international community, including the U.S.”

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports and sells the African country weapons and military aircraft. It has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Sudan’s consent.

Jiang said Thursday that Liu Guijin, a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, had been appointed to the new post of special representative for African affairs and would focus on Darfur because the situation there had “drawn significant international attention.”