Pressure on China as president heads to Sudan

by Mohammed Ali Saeed 54 minutes ago

KHARTOUM (AFP) - International pressure was on China to try its hand at peace diplomacy as Chinese President
Hu Jintao headed to war-racked Sudan, the highlight of an eigh******** tour of Africa.
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China's energy-hungry economy -- the fourth largest in the world -- is badly in need of Sudan and other African countries' resources and Beijing is for the first time showing willingness to use its influence to solve the Darfur crisis.

During his two-day visit to Khartoum, Hu was expected to hold talks with President Omar al-Beshir on the situation in the western region of Darfur, where a conflict between the government and rebels has been raging unabated.

"I believe this visit will not only boost bilateral ties, but also peace and stability in this region," Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun told journalists before Hu set off on his tour.

No other country has more clout on the Khartoum government than China, which absorbs 60 percent of Sudan's total oil output and has repeatedly used its UN Security Council veto power to block further sanctions on the regime.

Led by Washington, the international community has been pressing Khartoum to accept the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, where African Union troops have failed to quell the bloodshed.

But Beshir has consistently rejected such a move, accusing the
United Nations and western powers of seeking to invade his country and plunder its resources.

"If the Chinese put some pressure on Khartoum, it might have some potential," said the Save Darfur coalition's Larry Rossin, who recently travelled to Khartoum with US envoy Bill Richardson.

"I hope they can use their influence... to press President Omar al-Beshir to implement in good faith the hybrid peacekeeping agreement," Rossin told AFP.

Khartoum has yet to approve the final phase of a three-stage plan for UN forces to supplement the African contingent.

"It is encouraging that the Chinese government has been trying to have a very cooperative partnership and relationship with all African countries," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, according to the Chinese agency Xinhua.

At least 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced in Darfur since fighting broke out four years ago.

China has had deep economic ties with Sudan since the 1990s, when other foreign companies pulled out because of the raging north-south civil war.

The China National Petroleum Corporation has huge stakes in Sudan's oil industry, producing around 500,000 barrels per day. China is also building a dam on the Nile, which is currently Africa's largest hydro-electric project.

Trade deals are expected to be signed during Hu's visit, further boosting bilateral trade that reached 2.9 billion dollars in the first 11 months of 2006.

Hu received a warm welcome Thursday in Liberia, the second leg of his tour of the continent.

He began his tour Tuesday in Cameroon, where he approved grants and loans worth more than 54 million dollars, signing a draft agreement on scrapping Cameroon's debt to China and a series of health and educational accords.

Emphasising its commitment to Africa, China said this week it would write off debts owed by 33 African countries as part of a multi-billion-dollar pledge made last year.