“When a violation of the peace agreement happens, other embassies issue statements, but you never see anything from China. READ MORE China's 'eat bitter' business model doesn't work in Africa Their engagement is often viewed through humanitarian donations or infrastructure projects – mostly on the outskirts of Juba – but China barely speaks on issues of the peace process, peace building, or human rights. She says: “I may be biased, but my general impression is that China doesn’t care about South Sudan’s political process or stability. The stereotype is that they don’t engage in the political process in a way that actually seeks peace or stability They tend to be in their own spaces unless you go to Lily’s, a supermarket run by the Chinese, or a Chinese hospital or school,” she tells The Africa Report. “The Chinese don’t necessarily seek integration or get to know the locals much. She doesn’t sense strong Chinese engagement here as in other African countries, such as Kenya. READ MORE How China and the US are fighting over AfricaĮsther Soma, a native of South Sudan who previously worked with the UN on conflict resolution, has witnessed her home country’s arduous journey towards peace building. In 2008, it established a Consulate General in Juba and recognised South Sudan’s independence in July 2011. This oil wealth has qualified South Sudan as a middle-income country despite its immense poverty and underdevelopment (the World Bank estimates that about half the population – 7.2 million people – face crisis-level food insecurity, with nearly 4 million people still displaced from years of conflict).Ĭhina first entered Sudan’s petroleum industry in 1995 in the thick of the second Sudanese civil war, despite American economic sanctions on Sudan.
I may be biased, but my general impression is that China doesn’t care about South Sudan’s political process or stabilityĮstimated to contain the third-largest oil reserves in Africa, South Sudan was found to yield at least 3.5 billion barrels of crude oil. The discovery of oil in the 1970s furthered strains between Juba and Khartoum – with both cities wanting control of regional oil fields – and is inextricably linked to the armed conflict that later turned into a 38-year civil war, the longest-running one on the continent. Sudan, after all, was China’s first overseas oil success story. Unlike most other African countries, where Chinese companies or state-owned enterprises are present as construction contractors, China has a much more entrenched position in the South Sudanese oil industry. READ MORE Is China weaponizing ports built along the Belt Road Initiative?
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