29 Chinese missing after militant attack in Sudan.
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Let us get back on topic
Sudan Says It Freed Some Chinese Workers - WSJ.com
By BRIAN SPEGELE in Beijing and NICHOLAS BARIYO in Kampala, Uganda
Sudan said it rescued 14 Chinese nationals held captive by rebels there since Saturday, although 15 others remained unaccounted for as public concern intensified in China that Beijing hasn't done enough to protect its growing overseas work force.
But some Chinese media reports on Tuesday cast doubt on the Sudanese statements. The state-run Xinhua news agency, quoting anonymous Sudanese officials at a conference in Ethiopia, said none of the workers had been rescued. Other details remained murky.
China's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report. But it said in a statement on Tuesday that personnel from the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which is responsible for China's biggest state-owned enterprises, had traveled to Sudan to aid in rescue efforts.
A spokesman for the government in Khartoum, Rabie Abdelaty, said Monday that government forces were continuing to pursue the rebels who apparently seized the 29 Chinese workers on Saturday. The workers, who were involved in a road-construction project, appeared to have been seized amid clashes between government forces and rebels. "We are confident that Sudanese armed forces will rescue all of the captives," the spokesman said.
An officer in the Sudanese military intelligence said Monday that about a dozen Chinese security agents hired by the Chinese construction company were working alongside Sudanese personnel to rescue the workers. Precise details of their role were unclear Monday, including whether they were authorized to use deadly force on rebels.
The rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said the Chinese workers were unharmed and were being protected by the group from fighting in the area. "What we stand for before and after this incident are democracy and a just peace. This should be better understood by China," said Yasir Arman, secretary-general of the group, in a statement.
China has said very little about either the rescue or the status of the remaining kidnapped workers. The Chinese Embassy in Sudan declined to comment on the search-and-rescue mission, and the Foreign Ministry in Beijing didn't respond to a request for comment. The kidnapped employees were working on a road-construction project in the region for the Chinese state-owned Power Construction Corp. of China, affiliated with Sinohydro Corp., which didn't respond to a request for comment on Monday.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency Monday said China's ambassador to Sudan, Luo Xiaoguang, thanked the Sudan government for its efforts to help the Chinese workersand urged Khartoum to intensify the search for the still-missing workers. He said the incident "does not affect the bilateral ties between Sudan and China", which he described as "strong."
Xinhua said that 47 Chinese workers were at the camp when rebels attacked. It said that 29 of them were abducted and 18 fled to neighboring areas, where the Sudanese army found 17 of them and took them to a safe area, while one is still missing.
The incident is the third high-profile case of Chinese workers being caught in conflict zones during the past year, underscoring how China's increasingly global business interests put more of its citizens in harm's way and make its long-standing policy of noninterference in other countries increasing difficult. China is deeply engaged in infrastructure-building across the developing world, part of an effort to curry favor among governments in order to secure energy assets.
China's state-run media in each incident have highlighted Beijing's attempts to rescue workers or prevent future attacks. Nonetheless, Chinese security and foreign-policy experts say China's state-owned companies are often ill-prepared for such incidents.
"Security consciousness among the leaders of some companies hasn't yet reached a certain level," said an executive at security-services provider Beijing Special Security Service Co., who gave only his surname, Chen.
Beijing also fears an international backlash if its military is seen as aggressively expanding overseas missions.
On China's boisterous social-media websites, the Sudan incident renewed calls among some for China's military to get more involved in protecting overseas workers. One user of Sina Corp's Weibo microblogging service wrote, "If 29 Americans were kidnapped by rebels in Sudan then surely... [U.S.] Special Forces would have come ashore and carried out a rescue."
In February, China evacuated more than 35,000 of its citizens from Libya, many of whom worked as laborers on infrastructure-building projects, as fighting intensified. Beijing dispatched at least one warship to the region in what some analysts described as an unusual demonstration of force by China. Thirteen Chinese sailors on a cargo vessel were murdered on Thailand's portion of the Mekong River in October, sparking widespread public concern in China and promises by Beijing to better protect Chinese shippers. Nine Thai soldiers were later arrested in connection with the attacks. China launched joint armed patrols along the river with Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
"The Chinese government has to show to its citizens that it is taking security of Chinese expatriates very, very seriously," said Jonathan Holslag, a researcher at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies.
China has deep energy ties to Sudan as well as the newly independent South Sudan. China is the largest buyer of oil from Sudan, importing the equivalent of about 260,000 barrels of oil a day last year. Beijing has worked in recent months as a mediator to resolve an oil-transit dispute between Sudan and South Sudan.
Khartoum alleges the rebels receive funding and orders from South Sudan, which is led by a party that is also called the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The rebel group in Sudan says it is independent of the South Sudan government.
The international reach of China's military has expanded significantly in recent years. Its navy has taken part in antipiracy patrols in Gulf of Aden, for example, though few think it would open a permanent military base overseas in the near future, a move that would likely provoke an anxious response from Washington and others already wary of China's rapid rise.
—Olivia Geng in Beijing contributed to this article.
Write to Brian Spegele at [email protected]
Sudan Says It Freed Some Chinese Workers - WSJ.com
By BRIAN SPEGELE in Beijing and NICHOLAS BARIYO in Kampala, Uganda
Sudan said it rescued 14 Chinese nationals held captive by rebels there since Saturday, although 15 others remained unaccounted for as public concern intensified in China that Beijing hasn't done enough to protect its growing overseas work force.
But some Chinese media reports on Tuesday cast doubt on the Sudanese statements. The state-run Xinhua news agency, quoting anonymous Sudanese officials at a conference in Ethiopia, said none of the workers had been rescued. Other details remained murky.
China's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report. But it said in a statement on Tuesday that personnel from the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which is responsible for China's biggest state-owned enterprises, had traveled to Sudan to aid in rescue efforts.
A spokesman for the government in Khartoum, Rabie Abdelaty, said Monday that government forces were continuing to pursue the rebels who apparently seized the 29 Chinese workers on Saturday. The workers, who were involved in a road-construction project, appeared to have been seized amid clashes between government forces and rebels. "We are confident that Sudanese armed forces will rescue all of the captives," the spokesman said.
An officer in the Sudanese military intelligence said Monday that about a dozen Chinese security agents hired by the Chinese construction company were working alongside Sudanese personnel to rescue the workers. Precise details of their role were unclear Monday, including whether they were authorized to use deadly force on rebels.
The rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said the Chinese workers were unharmed and were being protected by the group from fighting in the area. "What we stand for before and after this incident are democracy and a just peace. This should be better understood by China," said Yasir Arman, secretary-general of the group, in a statement.
China has said very little about either the rescue or the status of the remaining kidnapped workers. The Chinese Embassy in Sudan declined to comment on the search-and-rescue mission, and the Foreign Ministry in Beijing didn't respond to a request for comment. The kidnapped employees were working on a road-construction project in the region for the Chinese state-owned Power Construction Corp. of China, affiliated with Sinohydro Corp., which didn't respond to a request for comment on Monday.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency Monday said China's ambassador to Sudan, Luo Xiaoguang, thanked the Sudan government for its efforts to help the Chinese workersand urged Khartoum to intensify the search for the still-missing workers. He said the incident "does not affect the bilateral ties between Sudan and China", which he described as "strong."
Xinhua said that 47 Chinese workers were at the camp when rebels attacked. It said that 29 of them were abducted and 18 fled to neighboring areas, where the Sudanese army found 17 of them and took them to a safe area, while one is still missing.
The incident is the third high-profile case of Chinese workers being caught in conflict zones during the past year, underscoring how China's increasingly global business interests put more of its citizens in harm's way and make its long-standing policy of noninterference in other countries increasing difficult. China is deeply engaged in infrastructure-building across the developing world, part of an effort to curry favor among governments in order to secure energy assets.
China's state-run media in each incident have highlighted Beijing's attempts to rescue workers or prevent future attacks. Nonetheless, Chinese security and foreign-policy experts say China's state-owned companies are often ill-prepared for such incidents.
"Security consciousness among the leaders of some companies hasn't yet reached a certain level," said an executive at security-services provider Beijing Special Security Service Co., who gave only his surname, Chen.
Beijing also fears an international backlash if its military is seen as aggressively expanding overseas missions.
On China's boisterous social-media websites, the Sudan incident renewed calls among some for China's military to get more involved in protecting overseas workers. One user of Sina Corp's Weibo microblogging service wrote, "If 29 Americans were kidnapped by rebels in Sudan then surely... [U.S.] Special Forces would have come ashore and carried out a rescue."
In February, China evacuated more than 35,000 of its citizens from Libya, many of whom worked as laborers on infrastructure-building projects, as fighting intensified. Beijing dispatched at least one warship to the region in what some analysts described as an unusual demonstration of force by China. Thirteen Chinese sailors on a cargo vessel were murdered on Thailand's portion of the Mekong River in October, sparking widespread public concern in China and promises by Beijing to better protect Chinese shippers. Nine Thai soldiers were later arrested in connection with the attacks. China launched joint armed patrols along the river with Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
"The Chinese government has to show to its citizens that it is taking security of Chinese expatriates very, very seriously," said Jonathan Holslag, a researcher at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies.
China has deep energy ties to Sudan as well as the newly independent South Sudan. China is the largest buyer of oil from Sudan, importing the equivalent of about 260,000 barrels of oil a day last year. Beijing has worked in recent months as a mediator to resolve an oil-transit dispute between Sudan and South Sudan.
Khartoum alleges the rebels receive funding and orders from South Sudan, which is led by a party that is also called the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The rebel group in Sudan says it is independent of the South Sudan government.
The international reach of China's military has expanded significantly in recent years. Its navy has taken part in antipiracy patrols in Gulf of Aden, for example, though few think it would open a permanent military base overseas in the near future, a move that would likely provoke an anxious response from Washington and others already wary of China's rapid rise.
—Olivia Geng in Beijing contributed to this article.
Write to Brian Spegele at [email protected]
Guess you have never heard about word "trade".
And stop derail the thread. I find people trying cheap shots when there are people still missing tasteless.
There is always risks when you operate in such environment. My heart go to the families of these people no matter what their nationalities are.
And stop derail the thread. I find people trying cheap shots when there are people still missing tasteless.
There is always risks when you operate in such environment. My heart go to the families of these people no matter what their nationalities are.
No oil in Sudan??...whats happened?
amoy
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He shall be referrng to the wrestle over oil transit fee btwn Sudan and breakaway South Sudan. The South, where the lion's share of oil is pumped, cut off oil pipelined to Port Sudan consequently and threatens to seek alternatives like through Kenya...
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The proposed border, 20 per cent of which is still disputed, runs through various oil-rich regions. Foreign investors in Sudanese oilfields, notably China's state-owned China National Petrolium Corporation, could find themselves caught in the middle.
China is Sudan's biggest trading partner, accounting for 58 per cent of Sudan's exports and 21 per cent of imports in 2009. Sudan, meanwhile, is China's third-largest trading partner in Africa.
Around 80 per cent of Sudanese oil is in the south, but the port used to ship it abroad is in the north, fed by a pipeline. But this dynamic could be transformed if a proposal by Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of the Japanese carmaker, to build an additional pipeline from southern Sudan to a new oil export terminal on the Kenyan coast, is realised.
Interactive map: Sudan - FT.com
http://www.rightsmaps.com/html/sudmap2.html
China is Sudan's biggest trading partner, accounting for 58 per cent of Sudan's exports and 21 per cent of imports in 2009. Sudan, meanwhile, is China's third-largest trading partner in Africa.
Around 80 per cent of Sudanese oil is in the south, but the port used to ship it abroad is in the north, fed by a pipeline. But this dynamic could be transformed if a proposal by Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of the Japanese carmaker, to build an additional pipeline from southern Sudan to a new oil export terminal on the Kenyan coast, is realised.
Interactive map: Sudan - FT.com
http://www.rightsmaps.com/html/sudmap2.html
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The South broke away and turned the oil off because they won't pay 30% transit fees. Sudan stole $300 million in oil without paying for it and S. Sudan is talking with Total for a pipeline to connect with Kenya.
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India trade surplus
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