South Sudan To Get Aid From China; No Oil Deal

Source: New York Times

China has welcomed the president of South Sudan and agreed to provide bank loans and humanitarian aid, but it has stopped short of moving forward on an oil pipeline, a sign of the delicate position Beijing finds itself in as the biggest energy investor in both the new nation of South Sudan and its bitter foe, Sudan.

As the two new nations continued to edge toward outright war this week and Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, cut short his trip to China, the government here urged both sides to use international mediation.

Before oil-rich Sudan was partitioned into two countries last year, China financed the pipelines and refineries in the north to carry and process the oil that largely lies in the south.

Energy analysts say Sudanese oil makes up only 3 to 4 percent of China’s total oil imports, but China, traditionally reluctant to get involved in foreign disputes, is now at the center of attention in a looming conflict between two developing countries that depend on its economic largess.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/asia/china-to-aid-south-sudan-but-pipeline-efforts-stall.html