Originally published on the CGS blog on June 16, 2008.
The international discourse on the Darfur conflict took a dramatic turn last Thursday, when China announced in the press that President Hu Jintao would finally be pressing the Sudanese government to address the massive humanitarian crisis within its borders. China’s role as an oil investor and arms provider has moved into the international spotlight over the course of this year after abuses by the Khartoum regime have increased despite efforts by the U.N-African Union peacekeeping deployment, UNAMID. According to the Washington Post, this force, mandated by the U.N. Security Council and hesitantly accepted a year ago, agreed to deploy 26,000 soldiers and police in 2008. As of today has less than half that number are on the ground due to lack of resources and militant rebel violence. Previous attempts of the Sudanese government to block EU and UN peacekeeping deployment and denial of abuse claims has created a sentiment that the government will not allow international aid intervention without a fight. China’s role in the Rwandan genocide as an arms provider, specifically of machetes, can certainly be viewed as historical precedents to hold the international community accountable for involvement in human rights abuses in Africa, and elsewhere.
Monetary investment in this type of ethical arena is nothing new on the global scale, especially in regards to energy. Many European corporations, like Rolls-Royce among the many, have provided Sudan with technology necessary for oil production. India, Malaysia, and Japan have all capitalized on Sudanese oil (particularly Japan, which was estimated in February to import even more oil than China). Russia, which also arms the Khartoum regime, doesn’t even dignify its international critics with a response.
Beijing’s Special Ambassador to Africa, Liu Guijin, is reported to have told Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Deng Alor, in February that ‘the world is running out of patience with what is going on in Darfur’ and ‘not to do things that will cause the international community to impose sanctions on them.’ According to the Observer , that’s a major change of stance from previous comments last year when grilled about China’s arms shipments to Sudan. He said, ‘If I am selling a knife, I cannot ensure that my client will not use the knife for murder.’ Beijing has long stuck to a strict, 19th-century view of sovereignty and “noninterference,” keeping out of social affairs of other nations. Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Jun declared late last year, “We never impose on other countries our values … and we do not accept other countries imposing their values on us.”
China has been viewed by both Presidential Candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain as a pivotal influential player in way of economic sanctions and political pressure on the Sudanese government. Whether the sentiments expressed by President Jintao recently are hollow threats will be the next big question. Many argue that only if international investors take action and unite around sanctions will any progress be made. Darfur needs action now, not empty promises. Let us hope this is a step in the right direction.
