MEDIATOR WITH AN OPEN ATTITUDE
"In fact, China has adopted a very open manner in dealing with the Darfur issue," Liu said. Chinese leaders and officials have taken every opportunity to exchange views with their Western counterparts, including U.S. special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios' visit to Beijing in January and Chinese President Hu Jintao's meetings with G8 leaders in Germany in June.
Beijing has welcomed mediation trips to Darfur by international figures such as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. It holds an open attitude toward France's proposal of opening up a humanitarian corridor to Darfur, on the condition that relevant countries accept it.
At the Paris meeting in June, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi acted as a mediator in smoothing out difficulties between Sudan and certain Western countries.
"We've been trying to persuade our Western colleagues that an iron hand may not necessarily be the only way to solve problems. Imposing sanctions will only make the situation even more complicated by discouraging Sudanese government cooperation on resolving the issue," said Liu, who also attended the international meeting as a representative of the Chinese government. "We can use our wisdom and joint efforts to achieve a better result."
Under China's presidency, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1769, which is concise and clear-cut in its wording, paving the way for an AU-UN peacekeeping force entering Darfur, but without asserting pressure or imposing sanctions against Sudan.
Sudan's UN ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem said many of the Sudanese government's concerns have been taken into consideration in the resolution. For example, the resolution stipulates the AU-UN troops shall conduct the peacekeeping mission in Darfur without prejudicing the role of the Sudanese government.
"Darfur is Sudan's Darfur. It is Africa's Darfur," Liu said.
China has always based its relationship with Africa on equal footing and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. "China's Africa policy is deeply rooted in the philosophy of Chinese culture and in its long history," Liu says.
The Chinese people, belonging to 56 ethnic groups and speaking hundreds of dialects, believe that different cultures can coexist peacefully with mutual respect. Confucius said more than 2,000 years ago that the Chinese people would not impose on others what they themselves did not desire. Since China and Africa both have painful memories of Western colonization, China will never pursue its own interests at the cost of Africa, Liu says.
He says China's prime interest lies in building a harmonious world, because it can only focus on domestic development under stable international circumstances. And friendship with Africa has always been one of the pillars of China's peaceful foreign policy.
"The so-called new colonialism cannot fit China's overall strategy," Liu says. "Accusing China of pursuing neocolonialism in Africa merely reflects the mindset of the accusers who have a colonial past in the continent." (more)
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article