August 28, 2000

Chinese troops pour into Sudan to fight rebels China National Petroleum has stake in oilfields

Christina Lamb The Sunday Telegraph LONDON - Tens of thousands of Chinese have been moved into Sudan in preparation for a major offensive against southern rebels to try to end one of Africa's longest-running conflicts, according to Western counter-terrorism officials.

The Chinese, a mixture of prisoners and soldiers, have been brought in by aircraft and ship, ostensibly to guard Sudan's increasingly productive oilfields in which the China National Petroleum Corp. is a leading partner.

Colonel Johnny Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has managed in recent weeks to advance within 16 kilometres of the oilfields in the Upper Nile region, causing the country's Islamic regime to activate emergency plans drawn up with allies whose interests in the oil project are directly under threat.

These plans aim to crush the rebels from the mainly Christian and animist south and bring to an end the 17-year civil war that has cost an estimated two million lives.

Since oil production began last year, arms have been arriving from Libya, Qatar and China. The ruling National Islamic Front (NIF) is spending US$450-million a year of its oil revenues on weapons, according to Western intelligence sources. The NIF denies this charge but last month General Mohamed Osman Yassin, the Sudanese army spokesman, told student conscripts that "thanks to our growing oil industry'' Sudan is now "manufacturing ammunition, mortars, tanks and armoured personnel carriers."

The SPLA captured a group of Chinese in an attack last week. An internal document from the Sudanese military said that as many as 700,000 Chinese security personnel were available for action.

Baroness Caroline Cox, a British human rights campaigner who has just returned from Sudan where she helped free 353 slaves captured by NIF soldiers, accused Western governments of turning a blind eye to what is going on because of their own economic interests in the oil.

"If with foreign help the NIF regime crushes all opposition, we will have entrenched in the heart of Africa a militant Islamist regime aimed at spreading terrorism throughout the continent,'' she warned. "It's unbelievably serious for the future of democracy in Africa and could happen in the next few weeks.''

She also criticized the British government's cosy relationship with Sudan.

Two British companies have won contracts to build pumping stations on the 1,600-kilometre pipeline from the Heglig oilfield, in the war-torn south, to the Red Sea.

Canadian multinational Talisman Energy has also faced public outcry over its involvement in the pipeline.

http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20000828/382153.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 28, 2000

Answers

Holy rice and chop sticks, Batman :-'

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), August 28, 2000.

Yesterday I could only find one source of this story. Today I find the story in at least half dozen sources. It is the same article repeated, but obviously it is getting around. Looks like the chinese are out to protect their investments.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 28, 2000.

U.N. suspends aid flights to Sudan Responds to government's bombing of humanitarian relief planes

By Charles Smith ) 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

The United Nations has suspended humanitarian relief flights into Sudan amid reports that Sudan is using a Chinese-supplied radar to track and bomb the U.N. humanitarian missions.

U.N. sources stated that the Security Council has requested a briefing on the situation in Sudan by senior relief personnel.

"Canada requested the briefing," noted a source at the U.N. who requested not to be identified. "The United States should have requested it."

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned the bombings during the agency's regular weekly press briefing. Boucher noted that the targets bombed include runways used by aircraft carrying U.N. humanitarian aid.

"These attacks are absolutely of no military purpose, and we think the government should stop these attacks immediately," he told reporters.

"I don't know when we will be able to get back to you on this," said State Department spokeswoman Lucille DePalma. "We are assembling staff to deal with the issue but it will take time."

Initial reports indicate that the Sudanese military has installed Chinese-made radar at the Juba army garrison along the southern Nile River. The reports were delivered to humanitarian relief missionaries. The radar system is reportedly being used to track and destroy U.N. Operation Lifeline Sudan flights and other relief flights into the southern Sudanese war zone.

In July, WorldNetDaily reported that Sudan had acquired 34 new jet fighters from China. Reports published in Aviation Week & Space Technology show that the Sudan air force is now equipped with $100 million worth of brand new Shenyang jet fighters built in China.

The Chinese-built medium-range radar unit at Juba is reported to be less than 200 miles from Lokichokio in Kenya, where the humanitarian flights originate. In addition, the Sudanese air force has modified Russian-built Antonov An-24 transport aircraft to serve as long-range bombers. The Antonov bombers directed by the radar at Juba are able to intercept and destroy the relief flights when they land inside southern Sudan.

The Sudanese Air Force is reported to be using Antonov AN-24 transports modified as bombers to attack U.N. and other aid flights on the ground in Sudan.

"It's low-tech war," said Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. "But it's still a war. People are dying. The U.N. flights need to be suspended or defended."

According to U.N. Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs spokeswoman Rosa Malango, Sudanese air force units have bombed U.N. flights on the ground in recent days, apparently in violation of U.N. negotiations with the Khartoum government.

"We negotiated three times with the government of Sudan to arrange safe passage for our humanitarian flights," said Malango from her New York U.N. offices. "Each time we received their assurances, they bombed another flight."

"We were assured by the Sudan government in late July that our flights would be safe. Just as we received the assurances, on July 27, Sudanese air force planes bombed another five relief locations. We again went and requested the Sudanese provide assurances. Again, after we were given those assurances, our planes were bombed on the ground. We have decided to temporarily suspend our Operation Lifeline Sudan flights."

On Aug. 8, the U.N. announced it was suspending flights. In a statement through his spokesman, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply concerned over the security of humanitarian personnel and facilities belonging to Operation Lifeline Sudan."

The secretary general stated he was "particularly alarmed" at an incident on Monday, when 18 bombs were dropped near the U.N. relief mission at Mapel, 35 miles southwest of Wau in the state of Bahr el Ghazal.

"A United Nations aircraft, that had been cleared by the government of Sudan to undertake its flight was on the airstrip at Mapel at the time of the bombing," spokesman Manoel De Almeida e Silva said.

Influential security advisers on Capitol Hill, however, have little faith that the U.N. will take any action to end the bombing.

"It is doubtful that China as a member of the Security Council would allow a U.N. move to end a war it is sponsoring in Sudan," said Al Santoli, national security adviser to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

"This is just another example of China's extending its influence throughout the Third World and comes at the same time a Chinese destroyer armed with missiles was visiting South Africa. It also calls into question any peacekeeping U.N. operation that China wants to participate in. A new radar in Sudan would be in tune with the new People's Liberation Army policy of global reach," said Santoli.

The U.N. is not the only relief mission to feel the sudden new assault by the Sudanese air force. According to the French-based humanitarian group Doctors without Borders, Sudanese air force planes bombed a clinic at Akuem along with a relief airplane.

The organization states: "Following the bombing of the village of Akuem in southern Sudan by governmental forces, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been forced to suspend its activities in this area (north of Bahr el-Ghazal). The center of Akuem consists of approximately 100 residences and a dispensary around an airstrip. On July 28, an aircraft dropped three bombs that landed about 200 yards from the runway where an MSF plane was situated. Thirty minutes later, the same aircraft returned to the vicinity and released another three bombs, which landed 500 yards from the health center. The center was clearly identifiable by a large MSF flag."

According to Roger Winter, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, the recent Sudanese air strikes have come very close to killing Americans.

"Two weeks ago, I was in south Sudan doing some filming with Hollywood director Oliver Stone," said Winter in an interview from his Washington, D.C., office. "Two days later, they bombed the spot we visited.

"Pilots of humanitarian relief planes reported to me that they heard Sudanese government radio transmissions between the radio tower at Juba, a major government-controlled town in south Sudan and Antonov bomber pilots tracking a Red Cross plane. They followed the plane and then bombed the site after the Red Cross plane landed," said Winter.

"Food is the new weapon of mass destruction. The U.N. cut-off of aid flights only serves to kill more. These bombings are clearly deliberate. The Sudanese government is targeting southern Sudanese civilians and relief workers who seek to save the lives of those civilians by providing food and medical services," stated Winter.

Winter has repeatedly called on the Clinton administration to take effective action. Winter contends that no serious U.S. government action has been forthcoming and the silence on the latest bombings is "deafening."

"The Clinton administration, skulking toward increasing its diplomatic relations with the Sudanese government, is studiously ignoring these intensified bombings, even though many of the programs targeted by the aerial attacks are supported by U.S. aid programs and private international relief agencies," said Winter.

"Sen. [Joseph] Lieberman has spoken out on Sudan before," added Winter. "He wrote a letter addressing the war. Lieberman still has a voice. Where is he now? Why is he silent?"

In May 1999, according to the Thomas Library of Congress Internet service, Lieberman co-sponsored Senate Resolution 109, titled "The Activities of the National Islamic Front Government in Sudan." Lieberman sponsored the bill along with Sens. Sam Brownback, William Frist, Tim Hutchinson, Frank Lautenberg and Connie Mack.

According to the legislation sponsored by Lieberman, "the (Sudan) National Islamic Front government is deliberately and systematically committing crimes against humanity in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains."

The resolution also called on President Clinton "to report to Congress not later than three months after the adoption of this resolution regarding the efforts or plans of the president to promote the end of slavery in Sudan."

"Is President Clinton going to stand up and finally use the 'S' word?" asked Winter in frustration. "Will he let Joe Lieberman?"

"It makes a mockery of President Clinton's often-repeated promises to respond seriously to African humanitarian issues. The U.S should be pressing for a 'no-fly zone' in Sudan," concluded Winter. "The Clinton administration should act through the U.N. Security Council now to force an end to these escalating atrocities in Sudan."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000811_xnsof_un_susp end.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 28, 2000.

Chinese officials deny troops on alert in Sudan August 29, 2000 Web posted at: 6:19 p.m. HKT (1019 GMT)

BEIJING (CNN) -- Beijing rejected reports on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers were helping Sudan defend oil fields in which a major Chinese petroleum company has a financial interest.

Chinese officials told CNN in a faxed statement that recent reports that approximately 700,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers had been placed on alert in Sudan to protect the fields -- in which China National Petroleum Corp had a stake -- were false.

"This report is a purposeful lie intended to harm, and is furthermore completely ridiculous," Chinese Foreign Ministry officials in Beijing said.

The officials said that China's relations with Sudan were based on mutual respect and non-interference in each country's internal affairs, and, as such, any reports that harm diplomatic relations have no credibility.

"The issue ... is Sudan's national business. China never wants to interfere in the affairs of other countries," ministry officials said.

"China and Sudan have established economic and trade relations on the basis of an equal foundation, which has (been to the advantage of) both peoples.

"Anything which harms this cooperation between China and Sudan, or other countries, will not succeed," ministry officials said.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/east/08/29/china.sudan/index.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 30, 2000.

Chinese in Sudan: Army of Workers, or Army? Col. Stanislav Lunev Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2000 As the Sunday Telegraph reported, China may have as many as 700,000 troops in Sudan and is preparing to enter that countrys civil war. Some of these Chinese are to serve as guards at oil fields and facilities controlled by Chinas oil companies. But mostly these Chinese in Sudan are officially considered "cheap laborers," working in Sudan according to special contracts and agreement between Beijing and Khartoum. These Chinese in Sudan are only a small part of the so-called cheap laborers, which number several million people in Africa.

Officially these people are civilians, but in reality they are a secret army, using by Beijing for Red Chinas expansion to African, Asian, Latin American and other countries whose governments are risky enough to invite Chinese cheap laborers.

Almost all Chinese workers in these countries do have military background and three to five years of army service. Practically all of them after conscript regular military service are included in "active reserve" for the army and are ready for combat in the ground and special forces operations.

While working in Sudan and other countries, these people are learning local traditions, culture, language, geography and other knowledge, which is necessary for combat operations.

These "cheap laborers" are assigned to different detachments of 50, 100, 500, 1,000 people (read platoons, companies, battalions, regiments) with very high discipline, strict subordination and collective guarantee.

All of them are under permanent control from representatives of Red Chinas special services, who are locating with them under "cover" of managers and different specialists. Some press reports have claimed many of these Chinese laborers are controlled by Chinese organized crime. You should know that all Chinese organized crime is controlled by the Chinese government and its intelligence agencies.

The Chinese laborers are paid only $200 to $300 monthly, but back in China they could make only about $50, and they are glad to have jobs.

These Chinese "cheap laborers" detachments rotate every several months, and Beijing has enough reserves to use them in possible warfare in Sudan and other countries. If armed, these cheap laborers could easily serve as a fifth column within their host countries  acting as good soldiers and available for action at any time necessary for their leaders in Beijing.

What is going on in Sudan clearly demonstrates Red Chinas intentions to establish its military everywhere. By using its secret army Beijing has a real chance to protect its own interests, to influence local governments and to change and establish local regimes that would favor Red Chinese policy.

Communist China, no longer satisfied with its regional power, is seeking global influence. Chinese military presence in Panama, the Bahamas and Latin America and secret Chinese armies in Africa and elsewhere are the evidence of Red Chinas global ambitions.

I am also deeply concerned about the large number of Chinese entering the United States, particularly in the state of California.

Previously Beijing used these secret armies carefully and covertly, and the international community didnt recognize it. But if Beijing decides to use its secret army in Sudan under a cover of protecting China National Petroleum Corp.s property, it would be a direct challenge to the West, especially to American politicians who cannot or do not want to recognize the aggressive nature of Chinese Communists.

In Sudan dictators already have killed about 2 million people and enslaved hundreds of thousands. These dictators are collecting $1 million a day through the oil expertise of Canadian, Russian and Chinese companies. With this money, Sudanese dictators buy Western, Russian and Chinese planes to bomb churches, hospitals and refuge camps, destroy relief supplies from Western countries, set fire to farms and villages and continue to kill Sudan's own citizens.

Armed with these weapons, Red Chinas secret army will have a chance to save these dictators and establish the same regimes in other countries besides in Africa  thanks to Washington politicians.

See more columns by Col. Lunev.

Col. Lunev is the highest-ranking military intelligence ever to defect from Russia. He also served as one of Russia's top spies in China.

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/8/29/201616

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 31, 2000.