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50.0%ANMag Issue 25 Public Surveillance
China-Sudan Relations: Roots of Ethnic Conflict
By Vanessa Zuabi, Staff Writer
Orange County, California − Ethnic and religious conflict is a repeating theme in today’s political affairs. Artificial nation-states established by previous colonial powers altered the boundaries of continents and regions, such as Africa and the Middle East but failed to address tribal, ethnic and religious perceptions of identity, which did not translate well into the Western notion of nation-building. Colonial powers such as France and England took advantage of instability caused by tribal, ethnic and religious conflict as a means of maintaining economic, political and social control. For example, while the French in Lebanon did not exhibit direct social control of the Lebanese, they funded religious elite that supported their presence within the country. In return for funding, educational and health resources by the French, several Lebanese elite implemented policies that served the interest of the French in Lebanon allowing them to tacitly continue to maintain control during and after their mandate. This policy created large regional socio-economic discrepancies between religious groups and regions, leading to sectarian instability and violence.
Today, very little has changed. Most wars are civil wars spurred by ethnic conflict. New super powers continue the search for markets and natural resources, particularly oil. This has allowed developed, more industrialized nation-states such as China and the United States, to take advantage of ethnic and religious divisions as a means of maintaining tacit control over political and economic resources, particularly natural resources such as oil. An excellent example of this is China’s economic and military relations with Sudan.
Since the 1960s, China has been Sudan’s closest economic partner. China is Sudan’s leading trade partner for about two-thirds of Sudan’s exports and provides one fifth of its global imports. More importantly, China’s economic investment in Sudan has developed the oil industry thereby enhancing much of the country’s infrastructure. In June 2006, the China National Petroleum Company made an agreement with the Sudanese government to develop the country’s newest offshore oil block. China’s heavy trade and investment in Sudan helped generate 11 percent economic growth rate in 2006 and 2007. Ultimately, China has increased self-interest in continuing trade with Sudan, despite condemnations by the United Nations, United States and numerous human rights organizations.
China’s heavy investment in the Sudanese economy and the oil sector in particular are of concern because of the manner in which wealth and growth revenue are being used. Chinese officials regularly justify China’s economic ties to Sudan as important to that country’s development and for its entire people. However, the Khartoum regime and the historic concentration of wealth among Sudanese elite merely feed ethnic conflict. The Darfur region has not received the economic benefits of economic growth. Sudan’s rapidly expanding economy has put the government in a position where it can readily fund its military and weapon purchases. As much as 70 percent of the income generated from oil sales has been dedicated to acquiring and manufacturing arms. This has perpetuated the North-South civil war in the 1990’s as well as the current conflict in Darfur. China has played a direct role in selling arms to Sudan and in developing its weapons industry. China was Sudan’s largest seller of weapons just prior to the onset of the Darfur conflict and has remained so since. Much of this occurred in spite of United Nations Security Council arms embargo. China insists that none of its transactions with Sudan violate the embargo.
Many international and non-governmental organizations have said that China’s relationship with Sudan is reflected in the Darfur conflict. China has supplied the country with arms in the past, and it is believed that continued arms sale with Sudan has been a main source of fuel for the Darfur conflict. Estimates show that between 180,000 and 300,000 people have died as a result of the violence in Darfur and the subsequent humanitarian crisis. The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is now finding its way across borders involving such countries as Chad and igniting the presence of more rebel groups throughout the region.
Unfortunately many do not believe that China will approach the situation in Darfur with geopolitical considerations first, but rather with economic and energy directives. The need for crude oil as a means of continuing the growth of China’s economy is essential, and economic strategy is first and foremost on their list. Like super powers before it, China’s economic interests and search for natural resources as a means of expanding its industrial and economic capabilities is of chief concern and will only spur more ethnic and religious conflict within nation-states.