ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the evolution of Southern Sudan's relations with China, starting with the background to China-Sudan relations before considering the Chinese role in Sudan's North-South civil wars as a defining period. The benevolent abstract image of an altruistic Peoples China that had prevailed in Sudan gradually ended as its oil intervention became more tangibly entwined in the country's multiple civil wars from 1995 onwards. The CPA enshrined Southern Sudan's right to self-determination to be exercised via a referendum in which Southerners could vote on whether to remain within or opt to secede from a united Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) opened up the south as a new frontier of Chinese business opportunity. Prior to 2005, there had been little Chinese commercial involvement of substance there beyond oil operations under the Khartoum government's authority. GOSS-China diplomacy was entangled in the NCP's relations with China, which featured frequent high-level exchanges and movement between Khartoum and Beijing.