China's Courtship of Sudan

On June 9th, 2005 there was a supposed peace accord between the Sudanese government and the rebel organization Sudan's People’s Liberation Movement.

Those who participated in this confab, chose not to address the human tragedy that continues to take place in the Darfur region. Victims of ethnic-cleansing atrocities conducted by the government and Muslim militias, the Sudanese continue to suffer by the hundreds of thousands. All the while, neither party to the confab, nor the U.N., mentioned the rapid development of an uprising in Sudan’s eastern districts, an area close in proximity to the important Port Sudan on the Red Sea and nearby oil installations.

Injured civilians arriving at Port Sudan’s hospital carefully described the air raids that killed nearly 100 civilians and severely wounded dozens more. Many of the injured insist "they were victims of gunfire aimed at them from helicopter gunships."

Behind the scenes, Egypt is helping to strengthen the Sudanese army and pro-government militias. One example of this is Egypt giving logistical support to the Sudanese air force. "Egypt also continues to supply Sudan with ammunition and spare parts for Russian made aircraft being phased out from the Egyptian air force."

The Sudanese carried on talks in Cairo about military cooperation with representatives from both North Korea and China. China's interest in the Sudan is quite important, especially when one considers China’s pursuit of its own "emerging global strategic plans and her intensifying involvement in developing world oil markets." Additionally, their enthusiasm to buy UNOCAL is a scary proposition and should not be overlooked. In fact, we should be very concerned.

The Chinese would like to get their hands on the huge Sudanese oil and natural gas reserves. As an inducement, the Chinese are offering money to the Sudanese for improvements to their infrastructure. Chinese (and maybe North Korean?) engineers were spotted in Sudan studying a number of gravel landing strips close to the tumultuous Red Sea region. "Residents of port cities say the Chinese offered to upgrade important landing strips and to fit them for year round use."

These events in Sudan also have serious implications for the U.S. and its’ war on terrorism. The intelligence community claim that "a number of sources linked to the Egyptian-Yemeni and Eritrean intelligence agencies indicate the government in Khartoum continues to distance itself as much as possible from its old ties with the Jamaa Islamiah and Khalifat dreams previously part of the Islamic government’s unofficial policy."

Promises made to Egypt and the U.S. have now distanced the Khartoum government from its earlier clandestine ties with al-Qaida. In addition to a shifting attitude with regards to al-Qaida, the Khartoum government is actively involved in curtailing such groups as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Jihad, the Yemeni Abyan organization and various such groups operating in Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti. This by itself signaled jihadis to push for more intervention in the east, and to increase their cooperation with members of anti-government guerrillas capable of providing al-Qaida operatives or fugitives with shelter. It is also expected to boost the establishment of bi-lateral relations so that military capabilities of various guerrillas will improve."

Unmistakably, China’s intention is to make the most of her participation in oil rich countries, like Sudan, by slyly filling the "vacuum" brought forth by means of U.S. embargos designed to punish.