China has been actively devoted to pushing for a breakthrough in negotiations among the concerned parties of Sudan's Darfur crisis, and is also working with the international community to ensure the smooth deployment of the UN/African Union hybrid peacekeeping force in the region, a senior Chinese official said here Monday.
"China has already announced five to six batches of substantive humanitarian aid to the Darfur region, and China has also promised to send 321 peacekeeping soldiers to the area," said Du Qiwen, vice minister of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China, at a panel discussion on China's development sponsored by the European Policy Center, a European Union (EU) think tank.
Du said 140 peacekeepers are already working in Darfur, and the181 others are ready to be deployed awaiting orders from the United Nations.
He said the Chinese peacekeepers are engaged mainly in transportation, the task with the highest risks. "China is doing the dangerous job so as to make some substantive efforts to contribute to UN peacekeeping in Darfur," he added.
The former Chinese ambassador to Kenya pointed out that "the most pressing issue" now for peacekeeping in Darfur is the "provision of 24 helicopters," which are crucial for peacekeeping efforts in the war-torn area.
He called on developed countries to contribute helicopters to Darfur.
Meanwhile, he brushed aside Western suggestions that China should exert pressure on the Sudanese government on the issue of Darfur, saying "exerting pressure on a foreign country and interfering in its internal affairs are not in line with China's foreign policy."
China's policy on Darfur is to conduct sincere exchanges of information with the Sudanese government on the basis of equality and mutual respect, so as to let Khartoum understand the needs and expectations of the international community, and to make constructive suggestions to it as a true friend, he explained.
On China's overall Africa policy, Du singled out Westerners' "two misunderstandings" on the issue.
"Firstly, the West thought China developed relations with Africa only in recent years because of its need for oil and other natural resources in Africa," he said. "Secondly, the West thought China was willing to develop relations only with African countries with rich oil and natural resources."
He said Sino-African relations have had a long history, with China by no means focusing on exploring African countries' energy resources.
He said that when China carried out its largest assistance projects in Africa -- the Tanzania-Zambia Railway -- in the 1970s,it was an oil exporter to Africa.
He also refuted the West's accusation that China was practicing so-called "neo-colonialism" in Africa by exploring oil.
He said China's oil imports from Africa in 2006 only accounted for 8.7 percent of Africa's total oil exports, as compared with 36percent and 33 percent respectively for EU and U.S. imports from Africa.
"If you put 8.7 percent as neo-colonialism, how would you describe the EU's and U.S. practices?" he asked.
Du said China has developed very good relations with all the 49countries that have established diplomatic ties with it.
China's assistance to Africa has not made Africa's debt burden heavier, he said. On the contrary, China is the country that has reduced debts owed by African countries "most drastically."
During the discussion, Du also delivered a speech elaborating on China's path of peaceful development.
Gudrun Wacker, an Asian expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, agreed that China's development of relations with Africa should not be regarded as "a new imperial attack."
Another panelist, Etienne Reuter, a senior adviser on Asian affairs of the European Commission, said China should continue to play its positive role in Africa.
He called on China and the EU to enhance cooperation regarding Africa to contribute to the continent's peace and development.