China says encourages Sudan flexibility on Darfur
June 15, 2007 (PRETORIA) — China said on Friday it was encouraging Sudan to implement an agreement on a joint U.N.-African force in Darfur, but added that any renewed Western pressure on Khartoum would backfire.
China, a major investor in Sudan’s oil sector, has blocked sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Khartoum’s consent, drawing accusations from human rights groups that it is abetting widespread violence, even genocide. As a permanent member in the U.N. Security Council, China can veto resolutions.
Liu Guijin, China’s representative on African affairs, denied the allegations and said the country had been making greater efforts to secure Sudanese compromises on Darfur.
“Using our own language we have been trying to give advice to the Sudanese government and to persuade the Sudanese side to be more flexible,” he told a news conference after talks with South African officials on Darfur.
After months of negotiations, Sudan accepted a joint force of 20,000 troops and police, but said it would be under AU command and control, and that most troops would be African.
The United Nations and the African Union hailed it as a breakthrough. But many remain sceptical, accusing Khartoum of signing deals and then wriggling out of them.
Only a political deal between the Sudanese government and all rebel groups could end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur because its vast size, tribal clashes and banditry will complicate peacekeeping, said Liu, China’s envoy on Darfur.
“I understand the argument of the international community, particularly from the western blocks to put pressure on the Sudanese government. But pressure cannot solve everything.”
“For instance, no matter how many troops you send for a peacekeeping mission, without a political process … you cannot have long-term peace,” he said
Fighting by government-linked militia and rebel groups in the western Darfur region has killed more than 200,000 people and driven about two million people from their homes, the United Nations has estimated. Sudan says only about 9,000 have died.
Western countries have been pushing China to use its economic leverage in Sudan and power in the United Nations to pressure Khartoum to end the bloodshed in Darfur.
Liu did not rule out the possibility that Western troops from countries such as the United States and Britain could be deployed in Darfur. But he said peacekeeping would be more effective with African and Asian forces.
“They have the same culture of the majority of the population of Sudan. That will facilitate the peacekeeping operation,” he said.
Liu accused the United States and its Western allies of politicising China’s investments in Sudan’s oil, saying other Asian countries which have stakes had been spared criticism.
(Reuters)