News
Report urges China to step in North-South Sudan talks
April 6, 2012 (NAIROBI) – China needs to engage “directly” in helping Sudan and South Sudan to resolve disputes over post-independence issues, especially oil, a new report has advised Beijing.
The report was issued on Thursday, 5 April, by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), a prominent research organisation.
Titled “China’s New Courtship in South Sudan”, the report tracks the evolution of political and economic relations between Beijing and Juba over the years that followed the signing in 2005 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended civil war in the former united Sudan and culminated in the south’s secession in July last year.
The report points out how China has sought to accelerate its engagement in South Sudan as it hurtled towards independence, citing great increases in the number of Chinese workforces and companies operating in the new country following secession.
The report also explains the dilemma facing by China which needs to balance “old friends” in Khartoum with “new friends” in Juba as they continue to wrangle over transporting South Sudan’s oil via Sudan.
Negotiations between the two neighbours over post-independence issues, which also include security, borders, citizenship and financial arrangements, have floundered in recent months, fueling renewed talk of returning to war and, more recently, military confrontations in border areas.
Similarly, the oil dispute exploded in January when Juba shut down production in response to Khartoum’s sequestration of southern oil.
In February, South Sudan threatened to expel Chinese oil companies, accusing them of complicity in Khartoum’s “stealing” of oil.
ICG’s report argues that China’s lack of engagement in the oil dispute, interpreted by Juba as “passive complicity” has drawn Beijing into an “uncomfortable position.”
Accordingly, the report recommends that China plays a “more active and regular” role in the north-south talks via “an empowered special envoy” to support the efforts of the African Union High Level Panel on Sudan, the facilitator of the talks, in securing an agreement on oil exports.
Furthermore, the report says that China should offer financial assistance to help cover the deficit created in Khartoum’s budget as a result of losing South Sudan’s oil.
The report also offers a set of recommendations to both China and South Sudan on how to manage their budding relations in a manner that creates “opportunities for mutual economic benefit.”
(ST)
To read the full report click on the attached document
The report was issued on Thursday, 5 April, by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), a prominent research organisation.
Titled “China’s New Courtship in South Sudan”, the report tracks the evolution of political and economic relations between Beijing and Juba over the years that followed the signing in 2005 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended civil war in the former united Sudan and culminated in the south’s secession in July last year.
The report points out how China has sought to accelerate its engagement in South Sudan as it hurtled towards independence, citing great increases in the number of Chinese workforces and companies operating in the new country following secession.
The report also explains the dilemma facing by China which needs to balance “old friends” in Khartoum with “new friends” in Juba as they continue to wrangle over transporting South Sudan’s oil via Sudan.
Negotiations between the two neighbours over post-independence issues, which also include security, borders, citizenship and financial arrangements, have floundered in recent months, fueling renewed talk of returning to war and, more recently, military confrontations in border areas.
Similarly, the oil dispute exploded in January when Juba shut down production in response to Khartoum’s sequestration of southern oil.
In February, South Sudan threatened to expel Chinese oil companies, accusing them of complicity in Khartoum’s “stealing” of oil.
ICG’s report argues that China’s lack of engagement in the oil dispute, interpreted by Juba as “passive complicity” has drawn Beijing into an “uncomfortable position.”
Accordingly, the report recommends that China plays a “more active and regular” role in the north-south talks via “an empowered special envoy” to support the efforts of the African Union High Level Panel on Sudan, the facilitator of the talks, in securing an agreement on oil exports.
Furthermore, the report says that China should offer financial assistance to help cover the deficit created in Khartoum’s budget as a result of losing South Sudan’s oil.
The report also offers a set of recommendations to both China and South Sudan on how to manage their budding relations in a manner that creates “opportunities for mutual economic benefit.”
(ST)
To read the full report click on the attached document