Chinese envoy hits back at Darfur campaigners
September 6, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — China’s envoy on Darfur Thursday lashed out at critics who accuse the fast-rising Asian power of turning a blind eye to bloodshed in the Sudanese region out of economic self-interest.
Calls from Darfur campaigners for a boycott of next year’s Beijing Olympics were “groundless and ridiculous,” he told reporters while on a visit to Washington.
No world leader has refused an invitation to attend the Beijing Games, Liu said after US President George W. Bush earlier Thursday confirmed his attendance at the sporting extravaganza.
Speaking after talks at the State Department and in Congress, Liu said that China had been instrumental in pushing through a UN Security Council resolution in July that finally authorized a peacekeeping force for Darfur.
China had previously blocked the resolution in the absence of an agreement with the Sudanese government, which is accused by Washington of waging “genocide” against thousands in Darfur suspected of supporting rebels.
While most of the troops are meant to come from African countries, China stands ready to increase its own contingent of 350 military engineers deployed to build roads and water wells in Darfur, the envoy said.
The Sudanese government agreed on Thursday to hold new talks with Darfur rebels in Libya next month, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon wrapped up a visit aimed at ending four years of conflict and human misery in the region.
China is by far the largest foreign investor in Sudan and absorbs almost two-thirds of its oil output.
It has faced international pressure to try to halt the conflict, in which at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of war and famine in the arid western region of Sudan.
Liu, however, said Western powers had far more influence in Africa generally.
Of total exports of oil from Africa last year, 8.7 percent went to China while 33 percent went to the United States and 36 percent to Europe.
“If 8.7 percent symbolizes looting of resources, I don’t know what words you use to describe the countries that received 33 percent and 36 percent,” Liu said.
He noted that French oil giant Total and British company White Nile are locked in a court battle over drilling rights in southern Sudan, which is now under the administration of ex-rebel leaders.
Western oil companies have for decades been extracting crude from the world’s most resource-rich regions, the envoy said.
“You have eaten all the meat and only left us with some soup in the most difficult regions of the world. Simply because we sip a little bit of the soup, we are severely condemned. Is that fair?”
However, Liu also said that he was keen to reach out to activist groups to explain China’s policies in Sudan. He was due Friday to meet members of the Save Darfur Coalition before heading to New York for the UN General Assembly.
Liu, who was named China’s special representative for African affairs in May, said he met Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Bush’s Darfur envoy Andrew Natsios during his Washington visit.
He also met the Democratic majority leader in the House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer, and foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Lantos.
China and the United States “may have different perspectives… but our purpose is the same: that is to seek a long-lasting and fundamental solution to the problem of Darfur,” Beijing’s pointman said.
(AFP)