Chinese Envoy for Darfur visits Sudan on Sunday
February 23, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — China’s special envoy on Darfur, Liu Giujin, will begin a five-day visit to Sudan on Sunday during which he will be calling on senior government officials and will pay a field visit to Darfur region.
Liu Giujin will sign a document on delivery of the fourth shipment of the Chinese Humanitarian aid to Darfur region.
China is considered to have influence over Sudanese leaders because it buys two-thirds of the northeast African state’s oil exports, sells weapons to its Islamic government and defends it in the U.N. But China has attracted criticism from the U.S. and other nations, who accuse it of not doing enough to bring violence to an end.
During a visit to the British capital, the Chinese envoy Liu Guijin said that Beijing wasn’t satisfied with progress made on sending a hybrid force of African Union and U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur, and that it was quietly pushing behind the scenes to encourage Khartoum to collaborate with the international community.
“We are ready to work with the U.K. and the rest of the international community and contribute to the resolution of the Darfur issue,” he said.
According to the Chinese envoy who will visit Chad also, Beijing is trying hard to find a “practical solution” to the Darfur problem through quiet diplomacy, which it sees as the most suitable route.
“We’re going to urge the government of Sudan to show more flexibility, and to be more cooperative,” he said.
However, he deflected the oft-raised criticism that China’s arms sales to the troubled nation were partially responsible for aggravating the violence.
Liu said that in 2006, only 8% of weapons imported by Sudan came from China. However, that figure is at odds with data from the U.N. which show transfers of military weapons and small arms from China to Sudan stood at $23 million in 2005, making China the largest reported supplier of such weapons to Sudan.
(ST)