Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi pledged his country’s ongoing support for Sudan, “whatever … the internal and external changes,” at the start of a two-day visit, Sudanese media reported.
“China’s policy towards Sudan will not change, whatever the pressure and internal and external changes,” Yang was quoted as saying by the semi-official Sudan Media Centre late on Sunday, shortly after his arrival in Khartoum.
“China will continue its support for infrastructure projects in the fields of economy and development,” he added.
A key ally of Sudan, which has suffered from US economic sanction since 1997, the rising world power is also a major military supplier to the regime in Khartoum, as well as one the largest foreign investors and the biggest buyer of Sudanese oil.
President Omar al-Bashir, controversially travelled to Beijing just before the secession of the south last month, where most of Sudan’s oil lies, to bolster bilateral ties.
Urgent solutions
On Sunday, Yang urged north and south to find “urgent solutions” to their outstanding differences, two days after a dispute over duty payments caused the authorities in Port Sudan to block a 600 000 barrel shipment of southern oil.
“Sudan and the south will lose the peace equation by not cooperating on common and disputed issues,” he said.
Yang was due to meet his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti on Monday morning, and President Bashir after his return from Chad, before travelling to Juba, capital of newly-independent South Sudan, on Tuesday.
China and Sudan have long enjoyed a close relationship despite international criticisms. Al-Bashir was given a red-carpet welcome in June by Chinese President Hu Jintao, when the two met for talks and trade agreements.
Genocide
This despite the fact that al-Bashir is unwelcome in many countries Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred in Sudan’s western Darfur region, where about 300 000 people have died since 2003.
China nevertheless remains an unabashed supporter of the Sudanese leader, who was the first sitting head of state to be served an ICC arrest warrant.
In an interview with China’s official Xinhua news agency ahead of the visit, al-Bashir insisted that southern independence “will not affect the relationship” between Beijing and Khartoum, hailing China as a model “real partner”. — AFP