OFFBEAT MAIL

Let us thank China for pressuring Sudan to finally accept the deployment of some 26,000 peacekeeping troops in the Darfur region. However, it is not without a bargain. At this time, Sudan wanted that all the troops be made up of Africans. Of all countries, it seemed only China has the clout and influence to exert pressures on the Sudanese government, which was believed to be one of the prime sources of oil for China. Needless to say, Sudan has not choice at all except to kneel down to what China wanted, considering that the latter has a big stake in Sudan's oil development projects. And who knows, maybe, China is also supplying arms and ammunitions to Sudan, in exchange for oil? Whatever it is, it seemed the ball is now in the hands of the U.N. body. However, the U.N. is still facing a dilemma on how to deal with the political crisis head on. The crux of the matter now is that lies as to whether the U.N. is capable of sourcing our the 26,000 peacekeeping troops that it needed for

Letter-writer Mr. Kingsley Smith (The Economist, Aug. 4) wrote to praise Hong Kong for its continued economic progress. However, it has failed to recognize the thousands of domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia, who somehow contributed to Hong Kong's economic development for many decades now. Before the eyes of Hong Kong government, the migrant workers, who have been living under tight restrictions, are eyesores in its society. Of all places in Asia, discrimination is a problem that haunts the memories of migrant workers, whose only objective in life is to earn an honest living, doing servitude to people who seemed to be stone-hearted and insensitive to accepted humanitarian virtues. This only happens in Asia, which is supposed to be for Asians, except that Hong Kong, an autonomous region of China, is not part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ). Nobody is certain if it is still dreaming of being the Crown Colony that it once was after it was