Darfur Crisis Seen from China, Report
June 3, 2007 (BEIJING) — Below a text of report by Chinese magazine Qiushi website on 1 June; published in Chinese. It reflects China’s point of view on Darfur crisis:
Sudan’s Darfur issue has been causing widespread concern in the international community for some time. The UN Security Council has held discussions and passed resolutions on the Darfur issue on many occasions. Diplomatic activities surrounding the Darfur issue have been extremely brisk. The international media have reported on the Darfur issue extensively, and there is no shortage of commentary on China’s role. How did the Darfur issue arise? What has the international community done to push for the political settlement of the Darfur issue? What role has China played in this respect?
The Origin of the Darfur Issue
Darfur is located in Sudan’s far western region. Because of its location in the centre of the African Continent, it is dubbed by the media as the "Bosom of Africa." It occupies an area of some 500,000 square kilometres, accounting for 1/5 of Sudan’s territory. With a population of some 6 million comprising 80 local tribes, it has multiethnic, multitribal, and multicultural characteristics. The ancient Fur are the largest local tribe, from which Darfur has derived its name, which means the "Homeland of the Fur."
The Darfur issue has taken shape over a long period of time. Due to poor natural conditions, lagging social and economic development, and fairly rapid population growth, relations among local tribes have historically been strained over issues relating to resources. The demarcation of colonial borders following Sudan’s partitioning by European powers in modern times led to even more unbalanced development among different local ethnic and tribal groups. The nearly 40 years of civil war following Sudan’s independence in 1956 has rendered the central government powerless to effectively administer and develop Darfur. For a long period of time, administrative committees among the people led by tribal chieftains were responsible for mediating tribal conflicts. After this form of organization was abolished, social and economic conflicts quickly piled up.
The increasingly arid weather since the 1960s and 70s has exacerbated the desert encroachment on land in Sudan, leading to increasingly smaller farmland and pastures and ever-scarcer water resources. The contention for water, grass, and land resources between Arabs and Africans has risen to the surface, leading to more frequent conflicts. In February 2003, rebel armed groups made up of Africans, such as the "Sudan Liberation Movement" and the "Justice and Equality Movement," asked to be granted autonomy. And among the Arabs arose such armed groups as the "Janjawid" (which in Arab means "armed men on horseback"). Armed groups of various stripes have attacked local civilians and plundered property at random, causing massive civilian casualties and setting off a humanitarian catastrophe. Apart from rebellious acts, there have been scores of tribal conflicts, including conflicts among Arab tribes. The situation is complex and intricate.
The Framework for the Political Settlement of the Darfur Issue
The Darfur issue has caused widespread concerns and worries in the international community. The Security Council passed resolutions on many occasions asking the Sudanese Government to disarm militias, imposing an arms embargo on Darfur, and implementing targeted sanctions such as travel restrictions and asset freezes on relevant responsible officials. Thanks to mediation by the African Union (AU) and some African nations, the Sudanese Government signed the "Darfur Peace Agreement" with the main rebel groups in May 2006, thereby taking an important step towards ending the conflict and realizing peace.
After the Darfur conflict broke out, the AU sent a mission in August 2004 to carry out peacekeeping operations. However, the peacekeeping operations have not been effective due to the lack of funding. Some countries began pushing for the United Nations to take over the AU’s peacekeeping operations. In August 2006, the Security Council passed Resolution 1706, with 12 votes in favour and three abstentions, and decided to send UN peacekeeping troops to the Darfur region with the Sudanese Government’s consent. The Sudanese Government raised objections to the resolution. Thereafter, the international community carried out extensive dialogue with Sudan on the issue of taking over the operations.
In November 2006, then-UN Secretary General Annan proposed a three-phase plan for deployment: During the first phase, the United Nations would provide financial, technical, and logistical support to the AU troops; during the second phase, UN personnel and equipment in support of the AU troops would reach a certain scale; during the third phase, a "hybrid" UN/AU peacekeeping mission, made up of 17,000 military personnel and 3,000 police officers, would be deployed in the Darfur region under a UN command system. The plan was endorsed by the high-level dialogue in Addis Ababa and the AU Peace and Security Council’s summit in Abuja and was approved with a Presidential Statement issued by the Security Council in December. The Sudanese Government accepted the Annan plan in principle but expressed reservations about the size of the troops and other details.
At the current stage, the Darfur issue primarily boils down to three aspects: (1) Hybrid peacekeeping operations. Sudan has basically implemented the first-phase plan and has agreed to launch the second-phase plan in the near future. However, it still has misgivings about deploying hybrid UN/AU peacekeeping troops during the third phase. (2) The political process. Some opposition groups have not yet acceded to the peace agreement due to differences over the distribution of power and wealth and other issues. (3) The security and humanitarian situation. Conflicts still occur from time to time between government and rebel troops and among various tribes, and international humanitarian relief operations are faced with difficulties.
The political settlement of the Darfur issue has now become the international community’s consensus. A "two-pronged" strategy - that is, advancing the peacekeeping operations and the political process in a balanced manner - is widely accepted in the international community. The Sudanese Government welcomes the political settlement of the Darfur issue and has called for gradually implementing the Annan plan through dialogue and consultation on an equal footing. All sides are engaged in diplomatic mediation aimed at reconciling differences.
Most armed groups have signed the peace agreement, and some of their members have even become local administrative officials. The Sudanese Government has issued more than 200 presidential decrees covering the distribution of wealth and power, with a view to restoring local administrative and legal order. Some localities have started rebuilding administrative committees among the people to deal with tribal disputes. The Sudanese Government recently also extended an agreement with the United Nations to facilitate humanitarian assistance.
All in all, positive progress has been made towards resolving the Darfur issue. Given the complex situation, however, thoroughly resolving the issue remains a long-term, arduous task.
China’s Propositions and Constructive Role
From the outset, China paid the utmost attention to the Darfur issue and supported the political settlement of the Darfur issue, and it has done a tremendous amount of work towards that end. President Hu Jintao has sent letters specifically to President al-Bashir, calling on Sudan to adopt practical measures to relieve the crisis. During the China-Africa Summit in Beijing in November 2006, President Hu met with Sudanese President al-Bashir and expressed the hope that Sudan would show flexibility on the Annan plan. China has also used suasion on all sides through such avenues as reciprocal visits, the dispatch of special envoys, communication by letter, telephone conversations, and coordination and mediation in the United Nations and other forums in an effort to narrow differences and promote dialogue on an equal footing.
On 2 February 2007, President Hu Jintao visited Sudan during his first trip to Africa following the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. During his talks with Sudanese President al-Bashir, President Hu proposed four principles for handling the Darfur issue: (1) Respect Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Darfur issue must be resolved in such a way as to benefit the process of national reconciliation in Sudan, the maintenance of Sudan’s national unity, and regional peace and stability. (2) Insist on dialogue and consultation on an equal basis and resolve the issue through peaceful means. The parties concerned should take an overall and long-term view, respect each other, accommodate the reasonable concerns of other parties, identify the basis of common interests through dialogue and negotiation, and push for a fair and lasting resolution of the issue. (3) The AU and the United Nations should play a constructive role on the issue of peacekeeping in Darfur. The parties concerned should put their wisdom and creativity to work, provide all kinds of assistance, and improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping in the Darfur region so as to create the conditions for realizing peace. China supports the process of seeking the political settlement of the Darfur issue. (4) Promote stability in the Darfur region and improve the living conditions for local people. A pressing issue right now is to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, accelerate the process of political negotiations, and bring those groups that have not signed the "Darfur Peace Agreement" into the peace process as soon as possible. At the same time, it is essential to ensure the delivery of goods and materials in humanitarian assistance, improve the living conditions for local people, and achieve gradual development on this basis. These principles have been widely acclaimed in the international community.
China is concerned about the humanitarian and security situation in the Darfur region and has provided the Sudanese Government with 80 million yuan’s worth of goods and materials in humanitarian assistance and contributed $18 million to the AU’s peacekeeping operations.
China carried out diplomatic actions in a timely manner when differences arose between Sudan and the United Nations recently over the implementation of the second phase of the Annan plan. During a meeting with visiting Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie on 29 March 2007, State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan expressed the hope that Sudan would show more flexibility and work hard to improve the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur. The Sudanese side thanked the Chinese side for playing a constructive role in pushing for the political settlement of the Darfur issue and emphasized the importance that it attached to the important proposal made by President Hu during his visit to Sudan. Soon afterward, a special envoy of the Chinese Government embarked on a visit to Sudan, during which he called for advancing the peacekeeping operations and the political process in a balanced manner, pointed out that the Annan plan was currently an effective way to resolve the issue that was closest to Sudan’s thinking, and voiced the hope that the Sudanese Government would show more flexibility, which would help the international community satisfy Sudan’s concerns on the issue of the political process. At the same time, China has maintained communication with the countries concerned regarding the Darfur issue and has urged all sides to take Sudan’s concerns seriously, remain patient, hold consultations on an equal footing, and not to insist on applying sanctions and pressure.
Diplomatic efforts by China and the parties concerned have had a positive effect. On 16 April 2007, the Sudanese Government reached a consensus with the United Nations and the AU on implementing the second phase of the Annan plan. Shortly thereafter, the Security Council issued a press statement offering its approval.
To further promote the proper settlement of the Darfur issue, on 10 May 2007 the Chinese Government appointed a special representative for African affairs, the focus of whose mandate in the near term would be the Darfur issue. China also decided to send a 275-member engineering unit to Sudan’s Darfur region to take part in the implementation of the second phase of the Annan plan.
The Darfur Issue and China’s Diplomatic Practice
The year 2006 was the "Year of Africa" in China’s diplomacy. China’s diplomacy towards Africa reached one climax after another, from the release of the "Document on China’s Policy Towards Africa" to President Hu Jintao’s and Premier Wen Jiabao’s separate visits to Africa to the convocation of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, bringing Sino-African relations into a new historical period. The Darfur issue is of special significance to China’s diplomacy. Facts have proved that the efforts made by China on the Darfur issue not only display the strong vitality of the basic principles of China’s diplomacy but also reflect the distinctive features of China’s diplomacy in advancing with the times.
China has always advocated the proper handling of relevant conflicts and hot-button issues by political means through dialogue and consultation. The background to the Darfur issue is complicated and involves numerous factors such as tribes, resources, and relations with neighbouring countries. Its resolution requires consideration of many factors such as political, security, and humanitarian conditions as well as local economic and social development. Only through dialogue and consultation among the parties concerned and respect for and accommodation of reasonable mutual concerns can differences be reconciled and the direction of joint efforts be identified. This is a realistic and effective way to settle the conflict. At the same time, we should realize that resolution of the issue is a gradual process which requires ample patience in order to avert major setbacks and reversals.
Throughout the course of dealing with the Darfur issue, China has adhered to the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment. China has always emphasized that Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and upheld. After the Darfur issue embarked on the track of political settlement, China explicitly pointed out that the Sudanese Government’s views should be heeded in any political settlement plan and that any such plan should be implemented in consultation with the Sudanese Government. During the course of implementing the Annan plan, on the one hand China has encouraged and prodded the Sudanese Government to maintain dialogue and cooperation with the international community, adhere to the broad direction of the Annan plan, and display flexibility in order to have its own concerns addressed; on the other hand, it has called on and urged the parties concerned to treat Sudan as a party to the resolution of the issue, conduct dialogue with it on an equal footing, heed its views, and accommodate its reasonable concerns.
Poverty and backwardness are the root causes of the Darfur issue, and development is the key to finding a lasting solution to the Darfur issue. Local people not only welcome humanitarian assistance but also yearn for development assistance from various parties to help them build infrastructure, improve such social services as health and education, and increase employment rates. Only when the issue of development is resolved can the Darfur issue be ultimately settled. China is committed to developing friendly cooperation with Sudan. This sort of cooperation is based on mutual benefit, is characterized by noninterference in each other’s internal affairs and nonattachment of any conditions, and is aimed at achieving common development. China’s cooperation with Sudan will help enhance Sudan’s capacity for development on its own. Fundamentally speaking, it is helpful to the resolution of the Darfur issue.
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