Visiting Chinese government's special envoy to Sudan's Darfur region, Liu Guijin, said Monday that the attack against the Chinese government over its cooperation with Sudan in the oil field is "a complete fallacy".
Liu, who arrived in the Sudanese capital on Sunday on a four-day visit, made his remarks during a tour to the Khartoum Refinery Company, Sudan's largest oil refinery located some 70 km north of the capital.
"Since my appointment (in May 2007), the most frequently asked question by Western reporters and NGOs is about China's cooperation with Sudan in the oil sector. They took this as a target of attack on the Chinese government," said Liu.
"This is a complete fallacy. I make an argument that because of the cooperation between the two friendly countries in the oil field, Sudan has become the only African nation to witness a high economic growth rate – last year it was nearly 11 percent, and nine percent in year 2006," he said.
Also thanks to the Sudanese-Chinese cooperation in the oil sector, Sudan has transformed itself from an oil-importing country to an oil-exporting one, the envoy added.
"So such cooperation is beneficial to Sudan and its economic development. It is a mutual-beneficial cooperation," said Liu, who is currently on his fourth visit in Sudan since his appointment.
Moreover, Sudanese-Chinese cooperation in the oil field is transparent, which doesn't exclude other nations if they would be delighted to be part of that, the envoy said.
The tour to the refinery has given him "new bullets to fight against those fallacies, (and) those ungrounded and unfounded accusations against China and Sudan," he added.
The refinery, a 50-50 joint venture between Sudan and China, currently hires nearly 1,000 employees, two-thirds of whom are local Sudanese. It provides most of the energy to fuel Sudan's economy since it started operations in 2000.
Liu, a 62-year-old veteran diplomat and former Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, has been engaged in African affairs for more than 25 years.
Before the current tour, Liu had paid three visits to Sudan since assuming his post and made a field tour to Darfur during his first visit in Sudan last May, right after his appointment.
He also shuttled between the United States, Britain, Egypt and other countries concerned, making unremitting efforts to resolve the Darfur issue.
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2008)
