Sunday, February 03, 2008

RE: China Abets, Arms Sudanese Regime   [J. Peter Pham]

While I limited my observations a few days ago to the deleterious impact of mainland China's support for Sudan's Arab-dominated Islamist regime on the internal situation in the latter country, events this week clearly show that Khartoum's capacity for mischief is not limited by international borders. As the BBC reports, rebels supported by Sudan's rulers seized large parts of N'Djamena, the capital of neighboring Chad, on Saturday and are battling government troops for control of the city. Chad is currently providing shelter for an estimated 200,000 refugees from the Sudanese regime's campaign of violence in the Darfur region and is the staging ground for the international community's $300 million relief efforts for what the United Nations has called the "world's worst humanitarian crisis."

In the short term, the Chadian rebels' assault on the capital, reportedly in vehicles originally shipped to Sudan from China, is an attempt to alter the strategic balance in the region before a French-led European Union peacekeeping force can deploy as scheduled later this month to protect refugees from Darfur and prevent further Sudanese-backed incursions into Central Africa. Over the long term, the imposition of a Sudanese-backed regime in Chad, coupled with the ongoing instability in Kenya, makes it that much more difficult for the South Sudanese to exercise their right of secession in 2011, notwithstanding the modest assistance they receive from the United States, including the new interim general headquarters for the Sudan People's Liberation Army which was dedicated this past week (see Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer's remarks at the ceremony).   

02/03 09:42 PMShare