News
China fights UN sanctions on Sudan to safeguard oil
By Jasper Becker in Beijing
15 October 2004
China is trying to stop the United Nations imposing sanctions on
Sudan over the crisis in the Darfur regionto protect its oil imports
from the country, say western diplomats.
For the past six years Beijing has been the Sudanese government's
main backer, buying 70 per cent of its exports, servicing its $20bn
debt and supplying the Khartoum government with most of its weapons.
Beijing oil imports jumped 35 per cent this year and its reliance on
a growing number of rogue states to meet its needs is putting it on a
collision course with the United States. Sudan and Iran together
supply 20 per cent of China's oil imports, and if economic sanctions
were applied to either, Beijing would be unable to sustain its high
growth rates.
China was identified by diplomats as the member responsible for
watering down last month's Security Council resolution which
threatened to halt Sudan's oil exports if it did not stop atrocities
in the Darfur region, where Arab militias are terrorising African
villagers.
The issue will be put before the council again at the end of this
month, when members will consider a report on progress made by
Khartoum in halting the violence.
Sudan is the largest recipient of Chineseoverseas investment and some
10,000 Chinese are working in the country. Since 1999 China has
poured up to $3bn (£1.6bn) into developing several oil fields and
building a 930-mile pipeline, refinery and port.
The UN Security Council is committed to reviewing the situation on a
monthly basis. Given the stream of bad news, it could soon move to
embargo Sudan's oil exports. China's ambassador to the UN, Wang
Guangya, has already threatened to veto any such resolution, but
diplomats say Beijing may have to give in to mounting international
pressure.
Beijing is already under fire for its support of Burma, North Korea
and Iran, countries also accused of breaches of international law.
China was also singled out in the recently released Charles Duelfer
report on Iraq's WMD, along with Russia and France, for breaching the
UN sanctions against Iraq and subverting the oil-for-food programme.
But China is almost alone in supporting Sudan. After the US imposed
sanctions in November 1997, the rest of the world - apart from
companies from Pakistan, India and Malaysia - have kept their
distance.
Sudan's attraction to China, other than its pariah status, is that it
holds Africa's greatest unexploited oil resources, even greater than
those of the Gulf of Guinea. China has helped to boost Sudan's crude
oil production from 150,000 barrels per day in 2000 to an expected
500,000 bpd in 2005. All this comes from oil fields in central and
south-central regions which may hold only 15 per cent of Sudan's
total reserves.
A failure in Sudan could severely damage China's shaky efforts to
become a global player in the oil business. When Saddam Hussein was
overthrown, China lost a key partner. Recently, two pipelines to
import oil from Kazakhstan and Russia have been dogged by unexpected
delays and problems.
Securing long-term supplies of oil, natural gas, iron ore, copper and
other vital minerals has become the top priority for China, and it is
investing everywhere. One new project is a 600-mile, $2bn pipeline
from Burma's deepwater port of Sittwe, which will follow a projected
railway line to China's south-western province of Yunnan. Another is
the development of Gwadar Port in Pakistan, which China hopes to use
to ship oil and gas from the Gulf. A pipeline to Xinjiang over the
Karakoram Pass will follow.
©2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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