Chinese officials announced on Wednesday that President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) would visit Sudan early next month and seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict in the country's western Darfur region, which the US has described as genocide.
Hu's visit to Sudan will be part of an eight-country tour of Africa, the latest of a string of high-level visits to the continent by Chinese officials.
In recent months, China has faced widespread criticism for its economic engagement with Sudan at a time when government-allied militias known as the janjaweed have carried out frequent attacks on civilian populations in western Darfur. At least 200,000 people have died in the conflict since early 2003 and many thousands have been forced to flee their homes.
China has played a leading role in building a thriving oil industry in Sudan amid the violence in Darfur and now imports more than 64 percent of Sudan's oil exports, accounting for nearly 5 percent of China's petroleum imports.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China would use its diplomatic influence to encourage a settlement of the Darfur crisis, but that China would not publicly pressure Sudan or threaten it with sanctions.
"The Sudan issue should be resolved like any other -- through peaceful negotiation," Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun (翟俊) said at a news conference in Beijing. "Using pressure and imposing sanctions is not practical and will not help settle the issue."
Zhai acknowledged China's prominent role as a leading trading partner of Sudan's and said China would sign new economic agreements with the country during Hu's visit.
"With Sudan, we have cooperation in many aspects, including military cooperation," he said. "In this, we have nothing to hide."
China's intense engagement with the continent has brought increasing scrutiny, and very often criticism, from Western governments and from international human rights groups and others who say China ignores questions of governance and of rights as it pursues business opportunities in Africa.
Despite the vow not to pressure the Sudanese government, Chinese diplomatic analysts said the announcement of a diplomatic initiative with Sudan was a turning point in China's foreign policy and in its relations with Africa in particular.
"This is a remarkable change," said Shi Yinhong (
Shi said that during the recent China-Africa summit meeting in Beijing, Hu had pushed Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in private to cooperate with the UN.
"China has begun to follow a different pattern on this issue," Shi said, adding, "When the world talks about China's rise, naturally that places demands and pressure on China to take on more responsibility."
An expert in African affairs, however, expressed more caution.
"China now is showing slightly different tactics, paying more attention," said He Wenping (
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS