The recent release of schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons by order of President Omar al-Beshir begs many questions about the Darfur conflict. If Beshir can have one British educator released after criminal conviction, can he not help settle the plight of some 6 million fellow Sudanese in Darfur? At least 200,000 people have died and 2 million have been displaced since the Darfur crisis erupted in 2003. That adds up to at least 2.2 million dead or outcast souls.

Will foreign governments pressure Sudan to settle the Darfur conflict as strongly as they pushed for Ms. Gibbons? Will foreign media keep as steady a focus?

Perhaps Ms. Gibbons' chances were ordained by the stars. Clearly, George Orwell's maxim from "Animal Farm" still stands: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" -- especially foreigners.

Then again, one foreign entity has more to lose -- and gain -- than others in Sudan: China.

China is Sudan's largest trading partner. It has been selling arms to Sudan since 1995, according to a 2003 Human Rights Watch report. Chinese Fantan fighter aircraft have appeared in Darfur in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, according to the Associated Press news agency. China has drilling rights in Sudan, offshore and onshore -- including in southern Darfur. Oil is Sudan's main export -- in a country where less than 7 percent of land is arable (yet supports 80 percent of the workforce).

Darfur rebels know this, and one group (the Justice and Equality Movement) attacked a Chinese-run oilfield just six weeks ago. They kidnapped five workers but later released them. JEM leader Abdel Aziz al-Nur Ashr stated, "All the people of Darfur believe that China is a partner of this genocidal government in Khartoum."

Last Monday, JEM again attacked. This time they claim to have seized a Chinese-run oilfield. JEM's Ashr stated, "Our attack is another attempt at telling Chinese companies to leave the country."

Does any of this sound a bit familiar? Like that other regional conflict -- Iraq -- Sudan's Darfur conflict seems to revolve around oil.

The difference is that China is the main player, not the United States. Forget that then U.S. President Bill Clinton had the United States bomb Sudan in 1998. The U.S.'s problem is its complicated relationship with China. They own huge chunks of our foreign debt. We are already using them to help resolve problems with North Korea. We do not want the Taiwan issue to come into play. And more than half of the U.S.'s military is tied up in fighting or supporting the "freedom operations" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite these complications, the stars may smile after all on the Sudan, sooner than Iraq -- movie stars, that is.

George Clooney has led a cluster of stars who have spoken out for a resolution, and who better than The Star of "Syriana" (2005), a movie about oil politics? In April 2006, his father and he visited Sudan, after which he went on Oprah and spoke at a Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. He has spoken at a U.N. Security Council meeting. He has visited China. Last week, he narrated his visit in "Sand and Sorrow," which premiered on the HBO cable channel. "Ocean's Eleven" co-stars Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Don Cheadle, and Mia Farrow have all spoken out.

Perhaps all this boils down to using a homemade Chinese remedy -- acupuncture. With movie stars, led by Clooney, keeping media pressure on the Darfur conflict, perhaps China will pass the pressure on to Sudan to find resolution.

If one teacher has more right to help from Sudan's government than millions of its own outcasts, then perhaps stars can pressure oil drillers into making Sudan's government come to reason and treat its entire people equally.

Perhaps.

European Union peacekeepers are moving into neighboring Chad to protect refugees. The African Union and United Nations will deploy 26,000 troops with the New Year. Sudan is demanding that the AU-U.N. forces include technical components from Egypt, Pakistan -- and China. All this amounts to a major troop build-up.

Meanwhile, Sudan's government is to move from Khartoum in the north to Juba in the south every three months. This movement is part of a national peace deal signed in January 2005, following a 21-year civil war that killed more than 1.5 million people. The last point to a peace agreement in Sudan remains stuck over the Abyei region -- rich in oil.

Lastly, do not forget: U.S. debt is helping China sell arms to Sudan and buy its oil.

Think about this over the holidays. Clooney opened "Sand and Sorrow" by quoting Albert Camus: "When there is no hope, one must invent hope." Pray for the Clooney star cluster's success.

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David Chambers is a management consultant who specializes in Middle East Broadcast Television and served on the White House Arts & Entertainment Task Force.