Oil and Darfur's Blood: China's Thirst for Sudan's Oil

Abstract

China, a rising super power and one of the fast growing economies in the world is showing unparalleled interest in Sudan. This interest plays itself out at the UN Security Council as well as inside Sudan. On numerous occasions, China has defied the United Nations Security Council and the international community by it usage or threat of veto to block several UN resolutions and sanctions on Khartoum’s regime and those accused of war crimes in Darfur. All these make China-Sudan relation more complex as well as interesting topic for an exploration. In this paper, focus is on China’s roles at the UN, China’s oil imports from Sudan and its arms ‘trades with Sudanese regime and how this complex relationship affects the Darfur conflict. Finally, the paper explores ways that China can help UN with the rest of the world to bring a lasting political settlement to Sudan’s region of Darfur.