China's arms sales to Sudan are limited and strictly abide by
international rules, the nation's special envoy on Darfur Liu
Guijin said yesterday.
Liu made the remarks at a news briefing in Beijing in response
to questions about China's weapon exports to Sudan.
"I can assure you that China has applied strict criteria in
exporting weapons to Sudan," he said, adding that China is "only
one of the countries that has sold weapons to Sudan and not a major
exporter".
"We will do our best to prevent the weapons from falling into
the wrong hands and from doing the wrong things," Liu went on.
Liu, fresh from meetings in Africa and Europe and visits to
African countries including Sudan, said China's role had been
crucial in persuading Sudan to accept a planned "hybrid"
peacekeeping force for Darfur combining African Union troops with
UN forces.
Sudan has accepted the first two phases of the plan, and in June
dropped opposition to the projected third phase, which will involve
a joint UN-AU force of more than 20,000 troops and police under AU
command.
"This (progress) was inseparable from the work the Chinese
government did," Liu said.
Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, have lobbied
Sudanese officials to accept the plan, which is in their "long-term
and immediate interests," he said.
The United Nations and African Union hailed the June agreement
as a breakthrough.
China will send 270 military engineers - for a UN force to
bolster African Union peacekeepers already in Darfur - as an
initial step in the peace plan, which Sudan has accepted in
principle.
"China's policy and stance on the Darfur issue has won
wide-ranging recognition in the international community,
particularly among African countries," Liu said.
The key to the resolution of the Darfur issue is to promote the
political solution process so as to improve the humanitarian
situation there, he added.
Liu suggested Beijing could give more backing to African Union
countries "based on what is needed".
He also dismissed the claim made by some people that the Beijing
Olympic Games should be linked with China's policy on Darfur as
"sheer nonsense".
"Most of the people who harbor such a claim know little about
China's efforts on the Darfur issue and some of them harbor a
cold-war mentality and take a distorted view," he told the news
briefing.
"The fundamental spirit and principle of the Olympics is the
non-politicalization of sport, and those people's claim to connect
the Olympics with the Darfur issue is sheer nonsense," he said.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2007)
