CHINA'S FOREIGN AIDS AND HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS — THOUGHTS PROVOKED BY DARFUR HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Zhou Qi

 China

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, raised China a brandnew subject in the field of international relations: what attitudes and manners should China adopt in treating human rights issues in its major recipient countries when it is trying to establish an international image of a responsible nation and meanwhile maintain the increase of its aid to the third world, which is meant to be mutual beneficial in the form of joint venture and cooperation.

The year of 1995 was a turning point of China's overall reform in its foreign aid framework. The target was, based on the “grand strategies of economy and trade” put forward by Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Wu Yi in 1994, to integrate foreign trade, capital flow and international economic cooperation and boost China's economic growth by making use of the internal and foreign funds, resources and markets. As a tool of China's participation in the international economic cooperation, foreign trade programs should implement the strategic ideas raised by the “grand strategies”. To achieve this goal, China needs to pursue fund and the diversification of the foreign aid forms while considering the benefits of both the recipient countries and itself. After that, preferential loans provided by financial organs became the main forms of China's foreign aid and joint-venture and cooperative programs were given more heeds and encouragement.

The oil exploration project in Sudan is a successful model of China's mutual benefit cooperative programs. The exploration of Zone Six of the Sudanese oil field by China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation was China's first example of exploring overseas oilfield with preferential loans after the country changed its foreign development and aid strategies in 1995. The corporation started, as early as 1994, to seek overseas oil resources to resolve China's oil resource shortage. Learning that the Sudanese government was seeking foreign investment for its internal oil exploration, the corporation performed a preliminary program evaluation and sent technical staff to Sudan for a field survey. After the negotiation with the relevant department of the Sudanese government, both sides decided to cooperate in exploring the oil resource following international norms, i.e. to distribute the oil output according to a certain ratio. At the same time, the program was submitted to China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation for approval and it was the time when the Chinese government launched its reform on the foreign aid policies. The program soon gained supports from the ministry and the Export-Import Bank of China. In September 1995, the Chinese government signed with Sudan to provide it with a 150 million RMB preferential loan (the interest of the preferential loan is lower than normal, the margin is subsidized by the government foreign aid fund). After three months, the Export-Import Bank of China reached a loan agreement with China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation. The drilling started in January 1997, in the Zone Six of the oil field. Thanks to good performances and credibility of Chinese companies, the corporation then acquired the exploration rights of oil-rich Zone One, Two and Four and also 40 percent of the stock and the management rights of the oilfields, claiming the triumph over the competition with other nine transnational corporations. These again brought about a large sum of oilfield construction contracts.

Sine 1997, China has become the largest foreign investor in Sudan. China's corporations are very active in Sudan's energy-related sectors including oil pipe construction, power and water conservancy. China is also the biggest participant of Sudan's petroleum industry, playing an important role in exploring and prospecting for the oil. China National Petroleum Corporation is the largest stockholder of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company. China is also the largest trade partner of Sudan. Sudan's export to China accounts for 71 percent of its gross export turnover and Sudan's import from China accounts for 21 percent of its total. Sudan is China's third largest trade partner in Africa and its trade with China accounts for 13 percent of China's entire trade with Africa. In 2006, thanks to the development of petroleum industry and oil export, the economic growth rate of Sudan reached 13 percent, the first place in Africa. Petroleum outputs accounted for 70 percent of Sudan's export turnover, reaching 5.25 billion US dollars in 2006. It is commonly recognized that Sudan's economic growth should attribute to PetroDar Operating Company (PDOC in short, which is an international consortium jointly established by China National Petroleum Corporation, Petronas, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, China Petrochemical Corporation and Al Thani Corporation from United Arab Emirates.)

Yet the deterioration of Sudanese political situation was receiving more and more concerns from the international community. In February, two tribal anti-government armed forces — Sudanese Liberation Army and the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement — were successively founded in Darfur. They opposed with force the Arabic Sudanese government, accusing it of implementing discriminatory polices toward them during the past decades and condemned Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashirs to use an Arabian militia organization, called Janjaweed, to perform retaliation toward them in Darfur. According to the UN estimation, assaults of Arabian militia since 2003 left over 200,000 people killed and 2.5 million others homeless.

The Sudanese government reached a ceasefire agreement with Darfur anti-government armed forces in April 2004, and an African Union troop consisting of more than 7,000 men then garrisoned into Darfur to carry out peacekeeping tasks. Nevertheless, limited by its own capabilities and funds, the AU failed to completely resolve the stability crisis in Darfur. The AU felt it would be difficult for it to continue the peacekeeping task by the end of March when the authorization expired, so it suggested transferring the peacekeeping task to the United Nations. The United Nations thereafter denoted to be willing to take this task. The United Nations Security Council passed its No. 1706 Resolution on August 31, 2006, deciding to dispatch a 17,300-man peacekeeping troop to Darfur if agreed by the Sudanese government. But the Sudanese government set itself against this resolution. The UN Secretary General Kofi A. Annan put forward a three-stage project in November 2006, proposing to deploy a mixed AU-UN peacekeeping troop in Darfur so as to resolve the conflicts.

The confrontation in Darfur was regarded as a human rights issue by the international community, as it violated the human rights of the local non-Arabian races who believe in Christianity. The Sudanese government was also condemned by many UN resolutions. On the other hand, China's intimate relationship with Sudan, including the bilateral economic, political and military relations was regarded as levers influencing Sudan. Nonetheless, although China actively provided aid to Sudan, China stuck to a non-exclusive economic cooperation policy based on equality, mutual benefits and transparency while adhering to its principle not to interfere in other country's internal affairs. From the very beginning, China did not pay special attention to Sudan's human rights situation. China firmly believed that its aid and investment toward Sudan would make great contributions to Sudan's economic and social development. Moreover, China unswervingly believed that its economic cooperation with Sudan would create favorable conditions to resolve the Darfur issue, because the fundamental causes of the confrontation was poverty and undeveloped economy. In China's views, the population surge and overgrazing in the 1960s and 1970s caused land desertification, forcing some Arabian inhabitants to seek water sources southward and then caused scramble of resources with the local black people tribes.

China implement policies which do not interfere in Sudan's internal affairs and claimed two principles based on which the Sudanese problems can be resolved: respect the sovereignty and territorial integration of Sudan; seek to solve the issue through dialogues and equal consultation. The Chinese government also denotes to support the constructive roles of the AU and the UN.

China continued providing important financial aid to Sudan. During President Hu Jintao's visit to Sudan, China agreed to exempt Sudan from its 80 million US dollar debt and provided a 13 million interest-free loan in the infrastructure construction program. China also promised to provide 5.2 million US dollar humanitarian aid to Sudan. Furthermore, China also provided 30 million US dollar in Darfur's dam project. China's humanitarian aid included providing movable houses for at least 120 schools, transportation vehicles, power stations, water pumps and other facilities to restore production and development.

China Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun paid a visit to Darfur and three refugee camps in April 2007. During the press conference, Zhai on one hand pointed out people who wanted to boycott the Olympic Games were either out of ignorance or with ulterior motives; on the other hand, he supplemented that China suggested Sudan showing its flexibility and accepting the UN peacekeeping troop. Thereafter, the Chinese government started to intermediate the standpoints of all parties based on Annan's three-stage plan. In May 2007, the Chinese government decided to appoint Liu Jingui, China's former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, as the envoy of African affairs, whose main duty was to resolve the Darfur issue. Foreign Ministry spokesman also testified that China would dispatch 275 sappers to join the United Nations' peacekeeping actions. The Foreign Ministry spokesman refuted the denouncement against China, while pointing out that China's non-antagonizing methods had already proved effective and denoted “China and the United States shared the same goal on Darfur issue. We hope to resolve the issue in political ways, therefore we prepared to make attempts together with the international community, including the United States.”