Post-Cold War China-Sudan Political and Economic Relations: Challenges and Opportunities
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Date
2014-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Not surprisingly, bilateral relations between countries invariably encompass interests
and constraint .China-Sudan, post cold war economic and political relations has posed
both challenges and opportunities. China’s non-interference principle, protecting the
Sudan regime from pressure of international community caused confrontation with the
Western countries. Using the principle as a tool to prevent others not to intervene, it
provided weapons, in exchange of oil money and investment opportunities.
Consequently, using the military hard-wares imported from China the regime enhanced
gross violations of human rights, such as, torture, mass killings and detention.
Embargoes, sanction and resolution on the Sudan regime for its human rights
catastrophe were annulled and acquitted by China arguing that responding the
situation in Sudan is an internal problem deserved to be solved internally. Furthermore,
the two countries’ have forwarded their political interest globally; Sudan supported
China’s membership in the UN Security Council in 1970s, and it was defeated its
human rights allegation in 1980s at the UN human rights council by the support of
African countries including Sudan. On China part, it was supported a unified Sudan,
opposing the South Sudan independency. The objective of the thesis is to explore the
political and economic elements harmonizing and hindering relationships between the
two countries in the post cold war period. To ascertain this, predominantly qualitative
with minimal level of quantitative research methodologies are employed. Both primary
and secondary sources of data are utilized. By doing this, the study demonstrated issues
such as, Western pressure on China to drag its diplomatic ally, internal dynamics in
Sudan such as, security factor and the secession of South Sudan, as obstacles for their
relations. It also found out that, the economic cooperation between the two countries is
showing opportunities. The major contributing factor for this is the exploration and
production of oil in Sudan, coupled with China’s demand of energy for its
manufacturing industries. After the exploration of oil in Sudan, the country’s economic
activities have shown a significant growth. Job opportunities for its citizen, value added
to GDP diversified investment opportunities from the oil revenue. As a result, the
balance of import-export of the two countries was in favors Sudan. Since, China has
eagerly come to Sudan to extol oil and to access investment opportunities for its
companies, it was importing 64% of Sudanese oil out-put, which covers 7% of its
overall oil consumption. And as a state owned enterprise the CNPC became a major oil
explorer company, which shares 40% of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating
Company (GNPOC) in the oil consortium
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International Relation