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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Jun 28 2011 - 09:09:24 EDT
China says Sudan divide on agenda as Bashir visits
Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:48am GMT
(Adds byline, comment from Chinese Foreign Ministry)
By Chris Buckley and Michael Martina
BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters) - Senior Chinese officials will take up the
secession of south Sudan during talks with Sudan's President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir, who began a state visit to his country's powerful patron on
Tuesday after a delay to his arrival.
Bashir had been due to arrive on Monday for a summit with Chinese President
Hu Jintao, one of the few foreign leaders willing to host the Sudanese
leader, under indictment by the International Criminal Court over war crimes
charges stemming from fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan.
But Bashir failed to show up on time in the Chinese capital, a delay that
the Sudanese Foreign Ministry later attributed to a change in his aircraft's
flight plan.
He arrived in the early hours of Tuesday and the summit with Hu was
scheduled for Wednesday morning.
"This visit will help advance traditionally friendly China-Sudan relations,
issues facing north and south Sudan, and the resolution of the problems in
the Darfur region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a
briefing.
In comments published earlier by state news agency Xinhua, Hong confirmed
that Sudan's "north-south peace process and the Darfur issue" would be on
the agenda.
China is a major buyer of Sudanese crude oil, and will be keen to ensure the
partition of Sudan into two states, Bashir's north and a more oil-abundant
south, will not descend into fighting that could disrupt supplies and damage
Beijing's stake on both sides of the new border.
China has been building ties with the emerging state in southern Sudan but
remains a major supporter of Bashir, including acting as Khartoum's top arms
supplier.
In interviews with official Chinese media, the long-time Sudanese leader
mixed reassurances about his commitment to a peaceful secession of the south
from July 9, which Beijing has encouraged, with a warning that the split
could still go wrong.
The are many "time bombs" in the dividing of Sudan and the possibility of
war again erupting between the two sides cannot be excluded, Bashir told the
People's Daily, China's main official newspaper, in an interview published
on Monday.
Trade between China and Sudan grew to $8.6 billion in 2010, a rise of 35.1
percent on 2009 figures, powered by the rising value of Chinese imports of
oil, according to Chinese customs statistics.
Sudan was China's sixth biggest source of imported crude oil last year, when
it supplied 12.6 million tonnes, compared with 44.6 million tonnes from the
top supplier, Saudi Arabia.
China's special envoy for Africa Affairs and former envoy to Sudan's
conflict-torn Darfur region, Liu Guijin, told reporters last week that China
had "done a lot of work to persuade" the north to implement the peace
agreement and referendum.
Khartoum seized the main town in the north-south border region of Abyei on
May 21, raising fears the two sides could return to conflict. But Sudan's
military and the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army last week agreed to
withdraw their forces in favour of Ethiopian peacekeepers.
Hong told reporters that Bashir's delayed flight -- due to "technical
problems" -- would not affect the visit. But he expressed China's
disapproval over the war crimes charges.
"China ... has serious reservations about the complaints lodged against
President Bashir," he said.
Human rights groups have urged Beijing to arrest Bashir. China has shrugged
off these calls, saying it has every right to host the head of a state with
which it has diplomatic relations.
"President Bashir in recent years has visited many countries, and has
received warm and friendly treatment. China, in extending a friendly
reception to Sudan's visiting head of state, cannot be criticised," Hong
said. (Editing by Ben Blanchard and Robert Birsel)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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China calls for "prudence" on Libya war crimes warrants
Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:57am GMT
BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters) - China on Tuesday called on the International
Criminal Court (ICC) to be prudent and objective in carrying out its duties,
a day after the court ordered the arrest of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,
his son and the country's intelligence chief.
"China hopes the ICC can prudently, justly and objectively carry out its
duties, and ensure that its relevant work genuinely aids regional peace and
stability," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said when asked about the
arrest warrants.
Hong's statement stopped short of condemning or endorsing the court's
actions, though China has denounced its war crimes indictment of Sudanese
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, currently on a state visit in Beijing.
The two leaders are the only sitting heads of state facing warrants from the
court.
The Hague-based court on Monday issued warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif
al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of
crimes against humanity for their alleged role in the killing of civilian
protesters who rose up in February against Gaddafi's 41-year rule.
China is not a member state of the court.
"China consistently opposes violent actions toward civilians, and advocates
that all parties resolve Libya's problems through peaceful political
negotiations," Hong said, speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
China has hosted Libyan government and rebel representatives in recent weeks
in what it has called an effort to encourage a ceasefire and a negotiated
end to the war.
About half of China's crude oil imports last year came from the Middle East
and North Africa, where Chinese companies have a big presence.
Beijing generally avoids entangling itself in nations' domestic affairs, but
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Libyan rebel leaders last week that they
had become an "important domestic political force" in the country.
The ICC ruling is unlikely to lead to Gaddafi's arrest as long he remains in
power and inside Libya, because the court does not have the power to enforce
its warrants. Rebel forces on Monday advanced 30 km (18 miles) north toward
Tripoli, Gaddafi's main power base.
China did not use its veto power as a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council in March to block the authorisation of the NATO-led air strikes on
Gaddafi's forces, but it quickly condemned the strikes. (Reporting by
Michael Martina; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Yoko Nishikawa)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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