Author: Alec Russell, William Wallis.

June 17, 2007 (LONDON) — China’s special envoy to Sudan has indicated that Beijing has privately exerted pressure on Khartoum over the conflict in Darfur, sometimes using “very direct language”. His comments in an interview with the Financial Times come amid western speculation that China is growing concerned at the potential threat the crisis poses to its commercial interests in Sudan and to the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Liu Guijin, a senior Chinese diplomat, was appointed special representative for Darfur in April, in the wake of growing criticism in the west of China’s perceived reluctance – as Sudan’s leading trading partner and top consumer of Sudanese oil – to put pressure on Khartoum to halt the violence in Darfur. Speaking after a fact-finding mission to Sudan, Mr Liu stopped short of criticising Khartoum and argued that to impose further sanctions, as some in the west are proposing, would be counter-productive.