TUESDAYAugust 29, 2000 volume 11, no. 154
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NEWS for Tuesday, August 29, 2000 LONDON, Aug. 28 (CWNews.com)
The Communist Chinese
government has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the
African country of Sudan in the past year as preparation
for an offensive against rebels, according to the London
Telegraph newspaper on Sunday.
The report said the soldiers acting as security guards and
prisoners forced to work at oil fields operated by the
state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation are being
prepared to enter a big offensive the rebels to bring to an
end a war that threatens their access to oil. The mainly
Christian African southern Sudanese have been fighting
against the mainly Muslim Arab government in the north for
17 years. In recent months, the government has been accused
of attacking civilian and Church targets.
The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has made
significant gains in recent weeks, advancing within 10
miles of the oil fields in the Upper Nile region, causing
foreign countries with interests in the fields to activate
emergency plans.
The Telegraph reported that China's activities were part of
those plans. The newspaper said China, Libya, and Qatar have
been supplying arms to the ruling National Islamic Front,
which has been spending more than $500 million in oil
revenues per year on weapons.
"An internal document from the Sudanese military said that
as many as 700,000 Chinese security personnel were
available for action," the newspaper reported. "Three
flights a week have been taking the Chinese into Sudan
since work on the oil fields started three years ago.
Diplomats in Khartoum, however, cast doubt on the numbers."
Other countries with significant interests in Sudanese oil
fields are Canada and Britain, while the US has imposed
economic sanctions on the country for involvement in
terrorist activities.
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