BEIJING, May 29 (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it opposed expanded sanctions against Sudan after reports the United States will unveil tough new restrictions on Sudan and push for another U.N. resolution on the bloodshed in Darfur.

China's representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, who has been acting as an envoy on Darfur, said "pressure and sanctions" did not help resolve problems.

"Expanding sanctions can only make the problem more difficult to resolve," Liu told a news conference in Beijing. Asked whether China would veto any new U.N. Security Council resolution targeting Sudan, he said: "It's still too early to speak of."

Liu's comments reflected the pressure China faces as it seeks to balance ties with Sudan and calls from Washington and other Western capitals for tougher action on Darfur.

Fighting by government-linked militia and rebel groups in that region of western Sudan has killed more than 200,000 people and driven about 2 million from their homes, the United Nations has estimated. Sudan says only about 9,000 have died.

Beijing said earlier this month it would send 275 military engineers for a U.N. force to bolster African Union peacekeepers already in Darfur, as an initial step of the "Annan" peace plan, which Sudan has accepted in principle but delayed implementing.

But China, a major investor in Sudan's oil, has blocked sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Khartoum's consent, bringing accusations from human rights groups that it is abetting widespread bloodshed, even genocide. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China can veto resolutions.
News | Africa - Reuters.com

This is CLEARLY about the oil. If China wants to block sanctions then I'd suggest they send in troops to clean up the mess.

Have a good one!:s4:
Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on . China opposes expanded sanctions against Sudan BEIJING, May 29 (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it opposed expanded sanctions against Sudan after reports the United States will unveil tough new restrictions on Sudan and push for another U.N. resolution on the bloodshed in Darfur. China's representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, who has been acting as an envoy on Darfur, said "pressure and sanctions" did not help resolve problems. "Expanding sanctions can only make the problem more difficult to resolve," Liu told a news Rating: 5