By He Wenping (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-03 07:26

A new joint African Union-United Nations force took over peacekeeping in Darfur on Monday from an AU mission.

Among the new UN troops were 135 engineering troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, who arrived in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state in Sudan, on November 24.

They were the first of UN peacekeeping forces to have entered the Darfur region and their arrival marked the second time Chinese soldiers are in Sudan following their participation in an earlier peacekeeping mission in the country's south. This time, however, their destination was Darfur - a hotspot and center of international media attention in recent years.

Because of "special concern" as described by Western media, human rights groups, and some politicians, Sudan's Darfur issue has quickly become a new international hot topic. And, because China and Sudan have enjoyed good political and economic relations for decades, the Darfur issue has also become an "excuse" for some Western organizations and individuals to attack China.

In turn the Darfur issue, thanks to the "China factor", has gone further up the "international hit chart" to become one of the "top picks" by Western media outlets as their news "focus".

It is safe to say the Darfur issue "shot" from a domestic eco-war pitting local tribes against one another over land and water resources, to a political and diplomatic war billed as an "international hot topic" in 2004.

In July that year, the US Congress passed a resolution labeling conflicts in Darfur as "genocide" (the UN has officially referred to it as a "large-scale humanitarian crisis") and pressing Washington to take action aimed at prodding the UN into slapping sanctions against Sudan, thus sounding the prelude to the internationalization of the Darfur conflict.

Sudan's unique geographical location and rich deposits of oil and natural gas are not only of great geopolitical significance to the US-led global war on terror but also of potential strategic and economic benefits to America's post-9/11 national strategy for diversified energy sources.

China enjoys traditional friendly, close political and economic ties with Sudan. And the two countries have conducted fruitful cooperation in oil exploration and production in the past decade or so.

Because of this some international organizations and individuals committed against China started to link China to the Darfur problem, wantonly equating China's investment in Sudan and cooperation with the current Sudanese government to escalating conflicts in Darfur and claiming China should be held responsible for the humanitarian crisis in that region.

More than a hundred members of Congress went so far as to send a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, warning China of undesirable consequences if it failed to take measures to end the chaos in Darfur. Some Western politicians and human rights groups even threatened to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The armed conflict in Darfur was thus tied to China for no reason and even to a decidedly apolitical sports event.

Criticism of China by some Western media entities and international organizations has focused mainly on two aspects: the country has opposed sanctions against Sudan during UN Security Council discussions about conflicts in the Darfur region; and it has been cooperating with the Sudanese government instead of putting a lot of pressure on it.

Truth is anyone who knows a thing or two about current international affairs is probably aware of the fact that insisting on resolving international and regional conflicts through political and diplomatic means such as negotiations and dialogue has always been one of China's diplomatic fortes.

It has not held this standing only on the Darfur problem but on even tougher issues such as the nuclear crises on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran as well.

History has proved time and again sanctions only makes poverty worse and poverty will only aggregate conflicts. It is always the people that sanctions hurt most, not their government. Besides, isolating the Sudanese government will do little to help solve the issue but will instead make the confrontation even worse.

Also, because poverty and backwardness are the root cause of the Darfur issue, the problem can only be thoroughly solved through economic development and cooperation. That is why China insists on resolving conflicts through development and cooperation facilitated by dialogue and negotiation.

Since the Darfur issue emerged, China has consistently sought to narrow the differences among all sides involved and pushed for dialogue on an equal footing through such channels as reciprocal visits between the two countries' heads of state, sending a special envoy, telephone calls, letters, and gatherings at the UN to communicate with all parties concerned.

During the China-Africa Cooperation Forum's Beijing summit in November 2006 and his visit to Sudan in early February 2007, President Hu held talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan al-Bashir over the Darfur issue.

Hu brought up China's four principle initiatives for resolving this problem, namely, respecting Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity; remaining committed to resolving the issue peacefully through dialogue and negotiation on an equal footing; international organizations such as the African Union and UN should play a constructive role in peacekeeping missions in Darfur, and enhancing regional stability while improving local people's living conditions.

The Chinese government has so far donated 80 million yuan ($10.93 million) worth of humanitarian aid to Darfur and $1.8 million to the peacekeeping forces deployed in that region.

In a bid to advance the political resolution of the Darfur issue, the Chinese side has been working hard to bring all parties concerned together for talks aimed at a political solution acceptable to all of them.

At a meeting held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in November 2006 and attended by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, AU member states and representatives of other African nations, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented a UN plan, also known as the "Annan Solution", for providing support to the joint peacekeeping forces in Darfur in three phases.

China supported the plan and believed it was realistic and workable, as it addressed the concerns of all sides involved and was closest to what Sudan had in mind. The Chinese side hoped Sudan and other relevant parties would discuss the details on an equal footing and reach a consensus as soon as possible.

The Chinese government has sent five special envoys and their entourages to the Darfur region so far to see the situation there first hand. Since the beginning of last year, the Chinese Assistant Foreign minister Zhai Jun has visited Sudan twice and during his second trip in April proposed the Darfur issue should be addressed from three angles.

On May 10 the Chinese government appointed an experienced diplomat - former ambassador to South Africa Liu Guijin - as the country's first special representative for African affairs. His work is primarily focused on Darfur at the moment.

This is the third time the Chinese government has appointed a special envoy for regional issues after doing the same for resolving the Middle East conflict and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear issue. This clearly shows the importance the Chinese government attaches to Africa and particularly to Darfur at present.

It is fair to say the role China has played in bringing Sudan's official stand on the peacekeeping mission from absolute rejection early on to full acceptance in the end has been pivotal and effective.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of social Sciences

(China Daily 01/03/2008 page9)