China striking economic deals in Sudan under cover of peace rhetoric: Report

New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) With western countries having pulled out of Sudan after the relentless civil war that has been raging in the African nation over the last three years, China has taken advantage of the situation to strike economic deals with the military junta and spread its geopolitical clout, according to a new report.

The de facto government of Sudan, General Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), controlling the Eastern half of the country, is reeling under a huge debt mountain. China’s strategy in Sudan goes well beyond diplomatic friendship as after having struck several oil deals in the past it is now looking for other resources such as copper.

“In fact, China is actively seeking investments in Sudan, including a $300 million copper deal that would leave Sudan with 30 per cent of the profits over a 30-year timeframe. This would be paid out only after debts to China were paid off. Notably, Sudan currently owes China over $5 billion in outstanding debt. The terms are quite striking and hint at a different picture than economic cooperation,” according to an article in The Diplomat.

The article by Paul Mwirigi, a Kenya-based writer, points out that the de facto government of Sudan, General Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), controlling the Eastern half of the country, is well over $56 billion in debt. Aid does little to mitigate Sudan’s debt spiral, and almost no creditors are prepared to help fund the campaign against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the west.

China remains one of the few who continue to negotiate with the Sudanese Army on any economic level. China’s trust shown to the SAF comes with its public calls for peace. The deals, however, expose that it is benefiting from the weak regime; it can control assets more easily and establish long-term deals with incredibly one-sided terms, the article points out.

Beijing’s formal neutrality gives it political cover to do all of this without attracting the scrutiny that military involvement would invite. Yet, this essentially sets up a violation of Sudan’s long-term sovereignty and causes a dependency trap for Sudan. Western policymakers are entirely missing what China is actually doing in Sudan. China is sequencing its debt, offering small tokens of grace through debt forgiveness and then locking in longer-term and fully ‘extractivist’ deals, the article states.

It highlights that China needs Burhan to maintain power, since the legitimacy of their contracts rely on personal relationships with him and his leadership. A civilian government would likely renegotiate Chinese arrangements, said the report.

In fact, the Eastern Sudan Advisory Council and the Beja Congress called for a freeze on any deal-making with China. Eastern Sudan is mineral-rich and chronically poor, and its residents rarely receive any of the resource wealth that flows outward. They face water shortages, failing infrastructure, and international isolation while suffering from the effects of the civil war, the article states.

The Eastern Sudan Advisory Council’s warning should be taken seriously beyond Sudan as well. Agreements concluded under these conditions carry real legal exposure once the war ends, and the communities whose resources are being contracted away extend into South Sudan and beyond, the article added.

–IANS

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