Sudan has been given an ultimatum.

On Friday the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution urging the African nation to cease the 17-month-old ethnic violence in its western Darfur region.

The US-sponsored resolution gives the Sudanese Government a 30-day deadline to cool down the bloody conflict or face diplomatic and economic sanctions.

China, together with Pakistan, abstained from voting on the resolution.

The Darfur violence, which has escalated from long-standing tensions between nomadic Arab tribes and their African neighbours, has claimed 30,000 lives and created an army of refugees.

Sudan has so far failed to make a uniform response to the threatening resolution. State Minister for Foreign Relations Najeib El-Kheir Abdul Wahab said on Monday his government is committed to the 13-0 vote, but the country has demonstrated strong dissatisfaction with the one-month deadline.

Sudan's army warned on the same day that any foreign military intervention would be viewed as an act of aggression and that it was prepared for "whatever developments take place."

The Sudanese Government said that the resolution violates the agreement it previously forged with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in which it promised to crack down on Arab militias accused of slaughtering thousands of African farmers in a brutal campaign to drive them out.

On Saturday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail rebuked the deadline set by the UN Security Council as "illogical."

The Sudanese Government said what it really needs from the international community is more humanitarian assistance.

Sudan's squabble over the resolution has seemingly made it necessary for the international community to again consider whether foreign intervention into a country's internal affairs is needed.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council which shoulders responsibility for world peace and security, China is no less concerned than other members about the on-going disaster in Sudan.

But the Darfur issue completely falls within the realm of Sudan's internal affairs.

Sudan is a sovereign country. Its demand and desire to solve its internal affairs should be fully respected.

The Sudanese Government's ongoing efforts to rein in the Arab militias demonstrate its determination and ability to cope with its own problems.

China's abstention, which not only shows its understanding of some countries' eagerness to end the violence in Sudan but also its respect for the African nation's desire to be its own master, is another sign of mature diplomacy in the international arena.

(China Daily 08/04/2004 page6)