Beijing leads efforts to avert new Sudanese crisis

摘要

China, the US and the EU are trying to defuse a renewed diplomatic crisis that threatens to halt the long-awaited resump- tion of oil exports from South Sudan through Sudan. But China’s role is likely to prove the decisive one. A new spat between Sudan and South Sudan threatens to block crude exports from South Sudan just as they restart after a 15-month suspension (WPA, 5 April, p8). Sudan’s president Omar al- Bashir has threatened to stop the flow of oil from South Sudan through his coun- try’s export pipeline to Port Sudan within 60 days, in retaliation for South Sudan’s alleged support for rebels in the Abyei region. South Sudan output only resumed in April after the stoppage caused by rows over export tariffs led to armed conflict between Khartoum and Juba in April 2012 (WPA, 10 May, p9).