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WASHINGTON: China has played a helpful role in encouraging Sudan to move forward with reconciliation with the south, a senior US official said Friday, despite concerns over Beijing's role in Darfur.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir enjoyed a red-carpet welcome this week in China, outraging human rights groups as he is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the Darfur region.
Princeton Lyman, the US special envoy on Sudan, repeated that the United States opposed foreign travel by Bashir but credited China's message on south Sudan, which is set to become independent on July 9 after decades of bloodshed.
“We have every indication that their message to President Bashir has been, 'Look, you've got to resolve the issues of the CPA,'” Lyman said, referring to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which set the stage for southern independence.
“'We want to see peace between the two. We'll be with you and we'll be with the south,'” Lyman said of the Chinese communication with Bashir. “And that's the right message, and so that's helpful in itself.”
Lyman, who has met several times with his Chinese counterpart Liu Guijin, suggested that Beijing was motivated by self-interest as it is a major investor in Sudan's oil sector. “They know the oil is on both sides of the border. They're moving rapidly to establish their relationships and programs in the south,” Lyman said.
North-south fighting killed two million people and displaced another four million over 20 years. The separate conflict in Darfur against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government has claimed at least 300,000 lives and displaced 1.9 million others since 2003, according to the United Nations.
US lawmakers and human rights groups have been strongly critical of China's role in Darfur. Representative Frank Wolf said Bashir's visit was further proof of China's material support to “genocide” in Darfur.
