China Redux

Here’s one to add to State Department’s annual list.  NYT’s Joseph Khan reporting:

Gao Zhisheng, one of China’s most outspoken dissidents until his conviction on sedition charges late last year, said in a recorded statement made available over the week end that while his confession had resulted in a light sentence, it had been made under mental and physical duress.

Better late than never. The AP reports that China is urging Sudan to accept the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Darfur.

Sudan and the UN agreed in November 2006 on the deployment of a joint African Union-U.N. force of 20,000 peacekeepers in Darfur. But Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has since backed off from the deal.

Now China is throwing its weight around. China’s assistant foreign minister, Zhai Jun, offered this view after meeting with President al-Bashir on Monday: “Our position toward Darfur is clear. We have exercised all possible efforts, political, economic and others and advised our Sudanese brothers to accept Annan’s plan.”

Zhai’s statement comes off as a bit self-congratulatory, but China has certainly pulled off a significant volte-face on Sudan. In addition to demonstrating public support for the UN peacekeeping plan and pressuring Sudanese leaders in private talks, China is putting its money where its mouth is. In testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services, Stephen J. Morrison, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that China has taken steps to stop incentivizing investment in Sudan:

The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, the main economic planning agency in Beijing, released a public document in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce, that Sudan has been removed from the latest list of countries with preferred trade status. According to the announcement, Beijing will no longer provide financial incentives to Chinese companies to invest in Sudan (full testimony available here).

None of this will soften the impact of China’s long delay in righting its Sudan policy. But these moves should be taken as a welcome sign that China is committed to becoming a more responsible member of the international community. Sudan will continue to be important lesson for China as it seeks to balance important diplomatic issues with its critical resource needs. In the future, this should lead to speedier, more effective response.