As China's first special envoy on African affairs, Liu Guijin
has been running against time since assuming office in May.
He made three trips to Africa in less than three months, two of
them to Darfur, Sudan, at a dramatic time in one of the most
volatile spots in Africa.
More than one million displaced people came one step closer to
returning home as the African Union (AU) and the United Nations
(UN) decided to deploy a 26,000-strong joint peacekeeping force in
Darfur.
The largest country on the continent struggled towards peace and
stability as rebel groups sat down to negotiate with the
government.
As the international community hailed the progress as
"unprecedented", many world leaders thanked China for playing a
constructive role. "You can describe China's role in resolving the
Darfur issue as unique, since we speak and act in a manner our
African friends understand and accept," Liu said. Over the years,
the Sudanese government has cooperated with the AU in addressing
conflicts among local tribes in Darfur. Some Western countries had
accused it of genocide in the region, an allegation overturned by
an on-site UN investigation.
Highly suspicious of the motives of Western countries, the
Sudanese government had refused to allow any troops from outside
the AU into Darfur, even under the banner of UN.
The situation became more complicated as the West threatened to
impose economic sanctions on Sudan. Some individuals and groups in
the West even called for use of force without authorization of the
United Nations. The move caused agitation within the African Union,
while Sudan vowed to fight for its sovereignty.
At the crucial moment, China stood up for a political resolution
of the Darfur issue. It adopted a clear-cut stance that the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sudan should be respected
and that sanctions were not conducive to resolving the issue. In
order to avert a possible escalation of the crisis, China
immediately embarked on a series of diplomatic efforts.
Chinese President Hu Jintao met twice with Sudanese President
Omar Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir from November to February. Hu spelled
out China's principles on the Darfur issue, including respect of
Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, insistence on a
peaceful resolution through dialogue and equal consultation,
affirming the role of AU and UN and the imperative of advancing
stability and living standards in the region.
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Chinese leaders have also discussed the Darfur issue with First
Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit and other Sudanese officials
when they visited China. Meanwhile, Beijing dispatched five groups
of envoys to Darfur in the months running up to May, when it
appointed Liu Guijin as the special envoy on the Darfur issue.
During his visit to Sudan in May, Liu met with President
El-Bashir and several government ministers in a bid to persuade
them to show greater flexibility on issues such as the proposal put
forward by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on deploying an
AU-UN joint peacekeeping force in Darfur in three phases.
The proposal was the result of a year of mediation by AU and
other countries. It won the broad consent of the international
community, including the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council.
"We made it clear to the Sudanese side that it was in the
immediate and long-term interests of Sudan to accept the Annan
proposal, since it was universally recognized as a comprehensive
solution to the Darfur issue," Liu said. "China has been trying
every possible channel to carry through the message to Sudan. And
the Sudanese government apparently agreed with us," Liu said. On
June 12, Sudan declared in a joint statement with the AU and UN
that it had explicitly accepted the third and final phase of the
Annan proposal without reservation. On July 31, the UN Security
Council passed Resolution 1769 on deploying AU-UN troops in Darfur.
However, China's position on seeking the cooperation of the
Sudanese government rather than asserting pressure or imposing
sanctions has drawn criticism in the Western media. Some accused
China of protecting "tyranny" for its own benefit and called for a
boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.
In fact, China has adopted a very open manner in dealing with
the Darfur issue," Liu said. Chinese leaders and officials have
taken every opportunity to exchange views with their Western
counterparts, including US special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios'
visit to Beijing in January and Chinese President Hu Jintao's
meetings with G8 leaders in Germany in June.
Beijing has welcomed mediation trips to Darfur by international
figures such as US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. It
holds an open attitude toward France's proposal of opening up a
humanitarian corridor to Darfur, on the condition that relevant
countries accept it.
At the Paris meeting in June, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi acted as a mediator in smoothing
out difficulties between Sudan and certain Western countries.
"We've been trying to persuade our Western colleagues that an iron
hand may not necessarily be the only way to solve problems.
Imposing sanctions will only make the situation even more
complicated by discouraging Sudanese government cooperation on
resolving the issue," said Liu, who also attended the international
meeting as a representative of the Chinese government. "We can use
our wisdom and joint efforts to achieve a better result." Under
China's presidency, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution
1769, which is concise and clear-cut in its wording, paving the way
for an AU-UN peacekeeping force entering Darfur, but without
asserting pressure or imposing sanctions against Sudan.
Sudan's UN ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem said many of the
Sudanese government's concerns have been taken into consideration
in the resolution. For example, the resolution stipulates the AU-UN
troops shall conduct the peacekeeping mission in Darfur without
prejudicing the role of the Sudanese government.
"Darfur is Sudan's Darfur. It is Africa's Darfur," Liu said.
China has always based its relationship with Africa on equal
footing and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
"China's Africa policy is deeply rooted in the philosophy of
Chinese culture and in its long history," Liu says.
The Chinese people, belonging to 56 ethnic groups and speaking
hundreds of dialects, believe that different cultures can coexist
peacefully with mutual respect. Confucius said more than 2,000
years ago that the Chinese people would not impose on others what
they themselves did not desire. Since China and Africa both have
painful memories of Western colonization, China will never pursue
its own interests at the cost of Africa, Liu says.
He says China's prime interest lies in building a harmonious
world, because it can only focus on domestic development under
stable international circumstances. And friendship with Africa has
always been one of the pillars of China's peaceful foreign
policy.
"The so-called new colonialism cannot fit China's overall
strategy," Liu says. "Accusing China of pursuing neocolonialism in
Africa merely reflects the mindset of the accusers who have a
colonial past in the continent."
On China's economic cooperation with Africa, Liu said that both
sides abide by the principles of equality, mutual benefit,
transparency and non-exclusiveness, he says. "China does import oil
from Sudan," he said. But Western oil companies take the lion's
share of resources on the continent.
Chinese companies won oil contracts through international
bidding and conducted all projects in Sudan jointly with
international partners, including those from Britain, Canada,
India, Malaysia and Sudan.
Since the oil output is divided in accordance with the share of
investment, China only gets a quota to buy a minimum part of the
total output. According to AU statistics, 33 percent of Africa's
oil exports went to the United States last year. Another 36 percent
of African oil flew to Europe, while China only bought 8.7 percent
of the total exports.
Western countries have long been showing increasingly great
interest in oil resources in Sudan. When Chinese oil companies
entered Sudan 11 years ago, the country had to rely on imports for
most of its fuels. Before that, some Western oil giants had been
drilling in the pastures of Sudan for more than a decade, without
finding any oil deposits of commercial value.
Chinese companies helped the country pump the first barrel of
oil in 1996, thanks to the unique technology they employed. Three
years later, the first shipment of oil left Port Sudan. The economy
has taken off in the past six years as oil income topped two
billion US dollars a year. Economic growth is expected to reach an
unprecedented 13 percent this year.
The presence of Chinese companies has brought about alternative
sources of funds and technology for the development of African
countries. Renowned African economist Adebayo Adedeji said African
people were able to get tangible benefits from economic cooperation
with China, while Western companies had brought little benefit to
locals in their exploitation of African resources.
Chinese companies have invested money back into Sudan for future
development. With Chinese investment, Khartoum has developed a
complete set of oil refineries, petrochemical plants and trading
systems. More than 100,000 Sudanese people have found jobs in
cooperative projects between China and Sudan. Chinese companies
helped train 6,000 local managers and technicians, who are now
serving at key positions in the country's oil industry.?
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the major Chinese
oil company operating in Sudan, has donated more than US$35 million
to build roads, bridges, hospitals and schools for local
communities, benefiting more than 1.5 million local residents. Some
65 kilometers to the north of Khartoum, a China-built power plant
is generating one-third of the country's electricity. Further to
the north, the big dam of Marawi hydropower plant is taking shape
under the supervision of Chinese engineers. On completion next
year, it will triple the electricity output in Sudan. It will not
only eliminate power shortages in Sudan, but also provide
irrigation within a radius of 100 kilometers.
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As the biggest developing country in the world, China is fully
aware that Sudan is in urgent need of accelerating development in
order to dig out the root of conflict.
As Western countries withhold aid and impose sanctions on Sudan,
Chinese companies are building water supply projects in Darfur,
which are crucial to ease the tension caused by lack of
resources.
During his visit to Sudan in February, Chinese President Hu
Jintao pledged to give 40 million yuan worth of humanitarian aid to
Darfur on top of the 80 million yuan of aid that already given to
Sudan.
China has also contributed troops and funds to AU-UN
peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
At the Tripoli meeting in July, AU special envoy for Darfur
Salim Ahmed Salim voiced deep concern that peace might not last in
Darfur if no progress were made on development.
The international community's effort to promote development in
Sudan has been handicapped by the West's failures to honor pledges
of aid under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between the
Sudanese government and southern rebels.
According to the agreement, people in southern Sudan will vote
on whether the region will stay in a unified Sudan or split in
2011. And the Darfur region will hold a referendum in 2010.
Salim said if the largest country in Africa split, it would send
shock waves through the neighboring countries and mean a disaster
for the whole continent. "When I listen to him, I feel his deep
love for Africa and his deep worries," Liu said when recalling a
conversation with Salim at the meeting. That's why China has been
calling for a "double track" approach in addressing the Darfur
issue, namely applying balanced and parallel efforts on
peacekeeping and a political resolution of the issue.
As rebel groups previously not included in the peace process sat
down in talks with the AU and UN special envoys in Arusha,
Tanzania, in August, the two wheels of the Darfur issue at last
started to roll simultaneously toward a lasting peace. In a meeting
with Liu, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said China had
spoken what Africa wanted to say.?
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2007)
