Study says China top violator of Sudan embargo

August 5, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — China has been the “most egregious violator” of a worldwide arms embargo, providing Sudan with the vast majority of its small arms and weapons used for mass murder in Darfur province, a private study group is charging.

The arms and also political support are being swapped for access to the African country’s oil reserves, according to a report issued on the eve of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

A copy of the report, due to be released on Wednesday, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Recognizing fast-developing China’s need for energy, William Hartung, a veteran foreign policy analyst and author of the report for the New America Foundation, said the United States might consider energy cooperation with Beijing so it does not rely for oil on Sudan and other repressive regimes. The foundation is a private liberal group.

In 2004, the U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo on all groups operating in Darfur. The next year, the Council extended the ban to the government. The United States and several European countries have tried unsuccessfully to expand the sanctions.

Hartung in an interview said about $150 million in weapons had been provided by China to Sudan in the last decade or so. The majority of the weapons were small arms, much of which found their way to Janjaweed, a notorious militia accused by human rights groups of killing and expelling hundreds of thousands of Darfur’s indigenous population.

“I think China is a hard country to persuade, but I do think if there were carrots and sticks involved it might be possible to change their policy towards Sudan,” he said.

According to a U.N. data bank, China is responsible for providing 90 percent of Sudan’s small arms between 2004 and 2006, he said.

Through its state-owned companies, China controls almost all of Sudan’s oil potential, the report said.

As “the supplier of last resort for dictators and human rights abusers,” China is also a major weapons exporter to Zimbabwe, Myanmar and rebel groups in Congo, the report said.

Many of these exports have included Chinese assault rifles and Chinese sales also have involved such heavy weapons as tanks and fighter aircraft, the study said.

(AP)