China presses Sudan on Darfur peace plan

April 11, 2007 (BEIJING) — China urged Sudan in unusually strong terms on Wednesday to show more flexibility on a peace plan for its devastated Darfur region, but said the international community would get nowhere by dictating terms to Khartoum.

China, which buys much of Sudan’s oil and wields veto power on the U.N. Security Council, has been criticised in the West for not using its leverage to force Khartoum to act to curb violence in Darfur, where ethnic tensions erupted into a revolt in 2003.

“We suggest the Sudan side show flexibility and accept this plan,” Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun told a news conference on his return from a three-day trip to the African country.

He was referring to a peace plan put forward by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to deploy a hybrid African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force. Sudan has had reservations about the deal.

Zhai met Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as well as Foreign Ministry officials and visited refugee camps in Darfur — a rare step for a Chinese official. He said on Wednesday Beijing was using its influence in its own way and rejected suggestions that it would get further by using threats.

“The international community should pay attention to the way of having consultations with the Sudan government in order to achieve better results. This is my opinion,” Zhai said.

“On the Annan plan, China has played an essential role. Just because of the Chinese government, Sudan is adopting a flexible attitude,” he said. “China can’t do everything, but we respect each other and consult as equals.”

Zhai’s trip is the latest sign of China’s intensifying engagement with Sudan.

It followed a visit to Beijing by Sudan’s Joint Chief of Staff. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo also discussed promoting diplomatic efforts to resolve the Darfur issue with his U.S. counterpart John Negroponte by telephone earlier this week.

(Reuters)