China’s Leader to Visit Sudan and Seek End to Darfur Conflict

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/asia/25chinacnd.html
By HOWARD W. FRENCH Published: January 24, 2007
SHANGHAI, Jan. 24 — President Hu Jintao of China will visit Sudan in early February and press for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in that country’s western Darfur region, Chinese officials announced today. Sudan will be one of eight African countries Mr. Hu is to visit on the trip, the latest of a string of high-level visits to the continent by Chinese officials. China has been widely criticized in recent months for its economic engagement with Sudan at a time when militias known as janjaweed, allied with the government, have mounted frequent attacks on civilian populations in Darfur. The United States and other governments have described the violence as genocide. China has played a leading role in building a thriving oil industry in Sudan, and now buys almost two-thirds of the oil that Sudan exports. The shipments account for nearly 5 percent of China’s total petroleum imports.

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said that while China intended to use its diplomatic influence to encourage a settlement of the Darfur crisis, it would not press Sudan publicly or threaten it with sanctions “The Sudan issue should be resolved like any other — through peaceful negotiation,” said Zhai Jun, an assistant foreign minister, who spoke today at a news conference in Beijing. “Using pressure and imposing sanctions is not practical and will not help settle the issue.”
Mr. Zhai acknowledged China’s prominent role as a leading trading partner of Sudan, and said that China would sign new economic agreements with the country during Mr. Hu’s visit.. “With Sudan, we have cooperation in many aspects, including military cooperation,” he said. “In this, we have nothing to hide.”
Chinese diplomatic analysts said today that the announcement of a diplomatic initiative with Sudan marked an important turning point in Beijing’s foreign policy, and in its relations with Africa in particular.
“This is a remarkable change,” said Shi Yinhong, an expert in international relations at People’s University in Beijing. “It would boost China’s image in the West, and would be welcomed in Africa, too.”
Mr. Shi said that during the recent China-Africa Summit in Beijing, Mr. Hu privately pushed President Omar Bashir to cooperate with the United Nations.
“China has begun to follow a different pattern on this issue,” Mr. Shi said. “When the world talks about China’s rise, naturally that places demands and pressure on China to take on more responsibility.”
A Chinese expert on African affairs, however, expressed more caution. “China now is showing slightly different tactics, paying more attention,” said He Wenping, director of African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “Hu’s visit at least gives a clear signal that China thinks Sudan’s issue is important, and China wants to play a role. But China’s strategy remains the same, and as always, it uses quiet diplomacy to keep a constructive engagement, rather than waving a stick.”
In the last two years, Africa has been the scene of a major push by Chinese diplomats and businesses to expand Beijing’s influence. Politically, China sees the continent as a rich trove of votes in the United Nations; economically, it is a useful source of petroleum and other natural resources needed to fuel China’s booming economy.
Africa also provides a stage for Beijing’s long diplomatic contest with Taiwan, with large amounts of foreign aid and investment offered to countries that recognize one and not the other as the only legitimate Chinese state.
Last week, under pressure from Beijing, the speaker of the Parliament in Liberia was impeached after allegedly meeting in a neigboring country with representatives of Taiwan. Liberia, a stop on Mr. Hu’s February itinerary, recognizes mainland China, which has become an important donor to the country since its emergence from civil war.
Beijing’s intense engagement with Africa has attracted growing scrutiny, and often criticism, from Western governments, international human rights groups and others, who say that China ignores issues of human rights abuses and misrule as it pursues business opportunities in Africa.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Mr. Zhai, acknowledged there had been problems in some countries it has befriended, like Zambia, where there were riots last year at a Chinese-controlled copper mine following a labor dispute over working conditions.
“We are also trying to educate Chinese businesses who have interests in Africa and investments there to respect social conventions and observe local laws and regulations,” Mr. Zhai said.