BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir — who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court — as an “old friend of the Chinese people”.

Bashir is one of the foreign heads of state attending a huge military parade on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. Major western leaders have shunned the event.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir over war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2009 and on genocide charges in 2010, all relating to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. “You are an old friend of the Chinese people,” Xi said after shaking hands with Bashir and a procession of Sudanese government officials accompanying him.

He stressed that China has long been the African country’s biggest trade partner and largest investor.

“China and Sudan are like two brothers that are also good friends and partners,” Xi said.

China’s foreign ministry defended itself against accusations that inviting an indicted war criminal to a parade billed as a celebration of peace was contradictory.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2015

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