BEIJING PUTS QUIET PRESSURE ON SUDAN

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China's special envoy to Sudan has indicated that Beijing has privately exerted pressure on Khartoum over the conflict in Darfur, sometimes using “very direct language”.

His comments in an interview with the Financial Times come amid western speculation that China is growing concerned at the potential threat the crisis poses to its commercial interests in Sudan and to the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Liu Guijin, a senior Chinese diplomat, was appointed special representative for Darfur in April, in the wake of growing criticism in the west of China's perceived reluctance – as Sudan's leading trading partner and top consumer of Sudanese oil – to put pressure on Khartoum to halt the violence in Darfur.
Speaking after a fact-finding mission to Sudan, Mr Liu stopped short of criticising Khartoum and argued that to impose further sanctions, as some in the west are proposing, would be counter-productive.

But he did suggest China had been more forceful in private. “In our own way and through various means and various channels we have tried to advise the Sudanese government to be more flexible,” he said.

“Even on certain issues like [whether] to accept the Annan plan [for a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force] we use very direct language to persuade them to understand they have to be very flexible.”

At the weekend UN officials said President Omar al-Bashir had agreed to the deployment of the hybrid force.

Mr Liu's comments chime with the impression of western officials that in recent weeks Beijing has become more active in seeking solutions to the conflict, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives and displaced 2m people since 2003.

“They are concerned that Darfur should not spread out and wreck the [separate] North-South peace agreement and compromise their ability to get the oil,” David Triesman, Britain's Africa minister, told the FT.




中国苏丹问题特使刘贵今透露，中国政府已私下就达尔富尔的冲突问题向苏丹当局施压，有时还使用了“非常直接的语言”。

刘贵今是在接受英国《金融时报》采访时作上述表示的。据西方推测，中国正日益担心达尔富尔危机可能影响其在苏丹的商业利益，并且可能会影响2008年北京奥运会的成功举办。

今年4月份，中国政府任命高级外交官刘贵今为达尔富尔问题特使。此前，西方对中国的批评日益增加，指责中国不愿向喀土穆施压，以制止达尔富尔地区的冲突暴行。中国是苏丹的重要贸易伙伴，也是苏丹石油最大的买家。

在前往苏丹实地调查之后，刘贵今在讲话中突然停止批评喀土穆，并指出，如果像一些西方国家提议的那样进一步施加制裁，结果将适得其反。

但他表示，中国已私下进行了更有力的劝说。他表示：“用我们自己的方式，并通过不同的手段和渠道，我们已设法建议苏丹政府采取更加灵活的姿态。”

“甚至在某些问题上，例如（是否）接受安南(Annan)的计划（同意非洲联盟(African Union)与联合国(UN)共同派驻维和部队），我们使用了非常直接的语言，劝说他们必须非常灵活。”

联合国官员周末期间表示，苏丹总统奥马尔•巴希尔(Omar al-Bashir)已经同意在达尔富尔部署联合维和部队。

刘贵今的讲话与西方官员的印象一致，即中国政府最近几周已在更为积极地寻求达尔富尔冲突的解决方案。据称，从2003年开始，这场冲突已造成20万人死亡，200万人无家可归。

英国非洲事务大臣戴维•特里斯曼(David Triesman)对英国《金融时报》表示：“他们关心的是，达尔富尔问题不应扩散，以免破坏北南和平协议(North-South peace agreement)，危及他们获得石油的能力。”