7 Gunned Down in Darfur as Sudan Government Visits China

Have something to add? Join the discussion! Click here to leave a comment. No registration required!

You are Here: Home>> The Vance Report >>7 Gunned Down in Darfur as Sudan Government Visits China

Click Here to Subsribe to the 'The Vance Report' Feed

7 Gunned Down in Darfur as Sudan Government Visits China

Written by Robert Vance on July 11, 2008 – 9:13 am

In the deadliest attack since September of 2007, seven international peacekeepers were unmercilessly gunned down in Darfur on Wednesday by over 200 as-of-yet unidentified militia men. Twenty two men were also injured in the attacks. Meanwhile in Beijing yesterday, Sudan’s ruling party, the National Congress Party, was welcomed warmly for talks by the CCP. According to an article from Xinhua , Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that said “the CPC will maintain high-level exchanges with Sudan’s National Congress Party and strengthen communications at all levels of the two parties to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.” The Sudanese government in turn, led by Mostafa Osman Ismail, the National Congress Party’s foreign affairs secretary and presidential advisor, ‘rubbed China’s back’ by expressing his party’s support the one China policy as well as wishing China “a complete success for the Olympic Games.” Little mention was made of the ongoing human rights crisis taking place in Darfur.

China, which imports more than 200,000 barrels of oil from Sudan every day, is making plans to exploit even more oil from the troubled region. According to an article published in the Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, “state-linked Chinese oil services companies are in talks to help Sudan exploit its crude reserves in its troubled Darfur region with the Sudanese army providing security…” The article also states that “the area to prospect is half the size of the Philippines” and that it “would be the first exploration move deep into the region since conflict erupted in 2003.”

These ever strengthening economic and political ties between the Chinese and Sudanese governments once again illustrate the international consequences of China’s own dismal human rights record. Economically speaking, China should have enough sway to pressure the Sudanese government to resolve the conflict on its Western border. In recent months, Beijing has directed stronger words at the Khartoum regime but from all appearances, these words have fallen on deaf ears. Even before the attacks on Wednesday, “attacks on aid workers by rebels, militia and bandits have been on the rise, and aid workers in the region say it is increasingly difficult to provide even the basics to the millions of needy civilians,” according to an article from the New York Times. And it is no wonder. China has little or no moral high ground to stand on when it comes to pressuring other countries on human rights issues; Sudan has little reason to listen to China. The CCP’s handling of the Tibetan uprising in March accompanied by new reports of forced abortions, persecution of Christians, and prisoner abuse all serve to render China’s admonitions on the crisis in Darfur empty and useless. Thus, the only real influence that China’s investment is having in Darfur is most likely the funding of much of the violence and bloodshed that it ongoing in the region; China is part of the problem.

In the end, the Chinese government does not really care about the escalating violence in Sudan. As long as its investments and workers in Sudan are protected, it views the human rights issues as an internal Sudanese matter. In fact, the CCP is most likely sympathetic to the Sudanese government; after all, China has also been a victim lately of what the CCP would consider to be international ‘meddling’ in the case of Tibet. The CCP’s failure to promote positive change in Sudan is simply a manifestation of its own failures in China. Until China can improve the human rights situation in its own country, any harsh words by Beijing directed at the Sudanese government will only be perceived as a feeble attempt to appease the international community’s outrage over the situation. The Chinese are powerless to help bring an end to the bloodshed in Darfur and they know it. They are only capable of drilling deeper and deeper into Sudan until every last drop of Sudanese oil has flowed out to fuel the Chinese economy. Meanwhile, something else continues to flow in Sudan; human blood. To the Chinese government, however, it all looks the same; it all looks like bubbling black gold.

Bookmark It