China opposes expanded sanctions against Sudan

May 29, 2007 (BEIJING) — China said on Tuesday that it opposed expanded U.N. sanctions against Sudan following reports that the United States will unveil tough new moves against Sudan and push for a fresh U.N. resolution on the conflict in Darfur.

China’s representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, who has been acting as envoy on Darfur, said “pressure and sanctions” did not help resolve problems.

“Expanding sanctions can only make the problem more difficult to resolve,” Liu told a news conference in Beijing. He did not answer directly whether China would veto any new U.N. Security Council resolution targeting Sudan.

Beijing said earlier this month it would send 275 military engineers for a U.N. force to bolster African Union peacekeepers already in Darfur, where Liu visited this month.

But China, a major customer for Sudan’s oil, has also blocked sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Khartoum’s consent, bringing accusations from human rights groups that it is abetting widespread bloodshed, even genocide.

President George Bush is set to announce new U.S. sanctions against Sudan, and also push for a fresh U.N. resolution targeting arms flows to Sudan.

(Reuters)