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Chinese workers are flowing into Sudan for what is claimed to be the biggest international project secured by contractors from China. Growing familiarity with conditions in Sudan and more modest expectations for pay and profit seem to have been influential in the Chinese winning the $650-million civil contract for the Nile River's Merowe Dam, over 300 kilometers downstream of Khartoum. Since winning the contract last June from the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, the CCMD Joint Venture has completed first stage river diversion. And it has begun excavation for the concrete section of the dam that will contain the...

China Invests Heavily In Sudan's Oil Industry Beijing Supplies Arms Used on Villagers By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, December 23, 2004; Page A01 LEAL, Sudan -- On this parched and dusty African plain, China's largest energy company is pumping crude oil, sending it 1,000 miles upcountry through a Chinese-made pipeline to the Red Sea, where tankers wait to ferry it to China's industrial cities. Chinese laborers based in a camp of prefabricated sheds work the wells and lay highways across the flats to make way for heavy machinery. Only seven miles south, the rebel army that...

China formally recognized the new state of South Sudan on Saturday, 10 days after Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir left the Chinese capital after signing agreements on 'economic and technical cooperation.' Coming on the heels of a senior Chinese diplomat's visit to the Libyan rebel capital of Benghazi on Thursday, it highlights China's peculiar relationship with unpopular and embattled leaders. China has been at the receiving end of international criticism for its relationship with Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur. It has also clashed with the United States and European powers over Libya, where...

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - A US human rights activist on Tuesday warned China that it risked rebel attacks against its oil interests in Sudan unless it put pressure on its ally Khartoum to end the violence in Darfur and south Sudan. ADVERTISEMENT John Prendergast told reporters that Beijing, a veto-wielding council member which has close energy ties with Khartoum, has a "disproportionate responsibility" in helping find a settlement to the conflicts in Darfur and south Sudan. "They (the Chinese) must fulfil that or else we are going to see Sudan burn and one of the first things that is going...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has determined that despite numerous requests China has become a major supplier of weaponry to Iran and Sudan. Officials said China has sold major weapons and components to oil-producing countries in the Middle East banned from receiving Western defense systems. They said Beijing has rebuffed U.S. appeals to halt the weapons supplies. China has supplied components and expertise to Iran's weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, officials said. They said some of the Chinese components have arrived via Pakistan, another key ally of Beijing.

The Genocide Games Using China's pride in the 2008 Olympics as a weapon against its shameful support of the Darfur nightmare by Nat Hentoff May 8th, 2007 10:39 AM April 25 was a characteristically murderous day in Darfur. Rwandan Harry Soko, an officer stationed in Sudan with the African Union—whose small, underequipped "peacekeeping force" is increasingly endangered—made a complaint to António Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees. Soko charged that, as usual, the Arab Janjaweed (which translates as "devils on horseback") were murdering and raping black Africans while Sudanese police merely looked on. Many of the more than 400,000...

China may set-up oil refinery in KarachiBy Faheem BasarKARACHI: China is considering an investment of over $100 million for setting-up a 60,000 barrels per day oil refinery, near the adjoining area of the National Refinery Limited (NRL).A source in the National Refinery Limited (NRL), told The News that a high powered Chinese delegation which is currently visiting Pakistan met top officials of the NRL and discussed the possibilities of importing Sudanese crude oil and and then refining it at Karachi, for producing Naphtha.The source said; that though the delegation did not sign any formal agreement, however it would submit a...

In recent years, China's rapid economic growth and increasing political clout have greatly accelerated the country's involvement on the African continent, especially in key oil-producing countries such as Sudan in East Africa. Analysts see China's activities in East Africa as a multi-layered approach by the government to secure partnerships for long-term economic gain and for advancing China's geopolitical ambitions. Four months ago, a large delegation of experts from the China National Petroleum Corporation traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to meet the country's energy minister and to visit the headquarters of the National Oil Corporation of Kenya. The Kenyan oil company's managing...

“One World, One Dream" is China’s slogan for its 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. But there is one nightmare that China shouldn’t be allowed to sweep under the rug. That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan. China is pouring billions of dollars into Sudan. Beijing purchases an overwhelming part of Sudan’s oil exports and state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, an official partner of the upcoming Olympic Games, owns the largest shares in each of Sudan’s two major oil consortia. China...

SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Faced with declining domestic oil output and growing dependence on imported crude, China's state oil firms have made an impressive foray this year beyond Chinese borders to hunt for oil and gas. China's three oil majors -- Sinopec, CNOOC and PetroChina -- have extended their reach from the homeland to eye upstream stakes in the Middle East, north and west Africa, southeast Asia, Russian and Central Asia. But the march abroad is not limited to oil. Gas is also high priority for some firms as China seeks to reduce dependence on crude oil and move ...

Journalists say CCTV-owned outlets censor reports across the continent When one of South Africa's biggest newspaper chains was sold last month, an odd name was buried in the list of new owners: China International Television Corp. A major stake in a South African newspaper group might seem an unusual acquisition for Chinese state television, but it was no mystery to anyone who has watched the rapid expansion of China's media empire across Africa. From newspapers and magazines to satellite television and radio stations, China is investing heavily in African media. It's part of a long-term campaign to bolster Beijing's "soft...

Every village has been wrecked, burned or abandoned and every inch of the vast African plain is devoid of life. For mile after mile, there are no people. The huts they once inhabited are blackened shells. The fields they once worked are empty. There will be no harvest this year, just as there has been no harvest since the outbreak of war. Then, amid desolation and solitude, it becomes brutally obvious where the people are. Kalma refugee camp, with 96,000 inhabitants, teems with life. These are the survivors of the carnage, now reduced to living in shacks made of plastic...

The UN, appalled at the ethnic slaughter going on in Sudan (in the south and the west/Darfur) has put an embargo on weapons shipments to Sudan. Everyone agrees this is a splendid idea, and agrees to abide. Yet Sudan, and various rebel groups, continue to get weapons, and other military equipment. And it's no secret who's supplying the stuff. China ships weapons to the Sudanese government, and denies it. Ukraine appears to be the main supplier of weapons to Sudanese rebels in western and southern Sudan. These are shipped in through Eritrea (for Darfur) and Kenya (for southern Sudan.) It...

Two countries will be created when more than 3 million Sudanese vote in a referendum on independence on 9 January. South Sudan will be reborn for the first time in over half a century, an act of secession which should put to rest the ghosts of Africa's longest and bloodiest civil war. North Sudan, however, will not be able to emerge from this process unchanged. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir vowed in his last speech to turn Sudan into a state governed by sharia law if the south chose to secede. Although the north is largely governed by Islamic law already,...

Harvard Divests in PetroChina, Sudan Genocide By David Kute and Leeshai LemishThe Epoch Times Apr 15, 2005 CAMBRIDGE, MA: Harvard President Lawrence Summers releases press statement about divesting PetroChina investment. (Jodi Hilton/Getty Images) BOSTON „ŸHarvard University announced that it will divest funds invested in PetroChina, an oil company said to be linked to genocide in Darfur. "Divestment is not a step that Harvard takes lightly," said Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers in a press release. "But I believe there is a compelling case for action in these special circumstances, in light of the terrible situation still unfolding in Darfur and...

Los Angeles -- The University of California Regents, citing the continuing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, voted unanimously Thursday to divest UC of tens of millions of dollars of securities from nine foreign companies doing business in that troubled African nation. The regents' decision represents a significant step beyond divestment actions taken by other colleges, UC officials said, because the university plans to shed both its direct and indirect holdings in the nine publicly traded firms. ...University officials refused Thursday to indicate the approximate dollar amount of the investments to be shed or what percentage of the university's...

<p>Fox news ran stories last night based on some of the things we were tracking right here in this post. Here is their on line story.</p> <p>As unfinished as my research is, I feel compelled to release what I've found so far as the story cannot wait any longer.  I am not looking for a scoop on anyone or anything, but at the same time I don't want anyone thinking I made this stuff up after the fact either.</p>

China has secured Baghdad's first post-Saddam Hussein oil deal by reviving a 1997 concession to exploit reserves on the al-Ahdab field south of the capital. The two countries are expected to formally sign an agreement later this month that will earn the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) a fixed price for every barrel it produces in Iraq. While China opposed the Iraq war and stood back from post-war rebuilding, Beijing has quietly outflanked its global rivals to grab a large slice of Iraq's oil industry. The pioneers of its overseas quest for fuel are already exploring vast tracts in...

"One World, One Dream" is China's slogan for its 2008 Olympics. But there is one nightmare that China shouldn't be allowed to sweep under the rug. That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan. That so many corporate sponsors want the world to look away from that atrocity during the games is bad enough. But equally disappointing is the decision of artists like director Steven Spielberg -- who quietly visited China this month as he prepares to help stage the Olympic...

Oil seals friendship for China and 'rogue' Sudan By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent Last Updated: 1:19am GMT 02/02/2007 When President Hu Jintao of China arrives in Sudan today, an isolated regime waging a brutal war in Darfur will offer an effusive welcome. "We are striving to be the best friend of China in the African continent," said Zahawi Ibrahim Malik, Sudan's information minister, as he announced Mr Hu's latest stop on his tour of Africa. Khartoum has much to be grateful for. China has become a key player in Sudan's burgeoning oil industry, which poured some £3.2 billion into the...