US envoy predicts biggest Chinese role in Darfur crisis

Jan 12, 2007 (BEIJING) — The US special envoy on Sudan said he had held surprisingly positive talks in Beijing this week and that he expected China to play a greater role in helping to end the conflict in Darfur.

Wrapping up a four-day visit, envoy Andrew Natsios said Chinese engagement was critical in getting Sudan’s government to agree last month to an expanded UN presence in Darfur and he expected China’s role to grow.

“Our policy and the Chinese policy are closer than I realized they were and I think the Chinese are going to play an increasingly important role in helping us to resolve this,” Natsios told a press briefing before departing Beijing.

Natsios, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in September, came to Beijing to seek further cooperation on the issue from China, which has close commercial ties with Sudan’s government.

The government-backed Janjaweed militia is blamed for killing thousands of civilians in the southern Darfur region, where Khartoum is battling rebels.

The conflict has left around 200,000 dead and displaced two million others in nearly four years, according to UN figures disputed by the Sudanese authorities.

Natsios declined to offer further details of his talks in Beijing, which he said included a meeting with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan — one of China’s top diplomats — and officials with the foreign ministry.

But he said the United States and China agreed in principle to cooperate on securing a negotiated peace to the conflict.

“I think the visit was a very successful one because we found many more areas of common agreement, both about our objectives and our strategies for achieving those objectives,” he said.

“We agreed to continue to cooperate on this issue.”

China’s ties with Sudan have been criticized in the west as motivated by the need for Sudan’s oil. Groups such as the US-based Council on Foreign Relations accuse Beijing of selling arms to the Sudanese government.

Natsios was asked whether he had requested China to alter its Sudan policies.

“We made a whole series of requests but I’m not going to tell you what they all were,” he said.

“I could end up making a very successful trip not so successful.”

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(AFP)