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South Sudan leader cuts short visit to China
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, right, reviews an honour guard with Chinese President Hu Jintao. PHOTO/Alexander F. Yuan/AP
The president of the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, has cut short a visit to China due to the rising threat of war at home.
China’s top legislator, Wu Bangguo, said during talks Wednesday with South Sudan President Salva Kiir that it was unfortunate Kiir was forced to shorten his stay and cancel a planned trip to Shanghai due to “domestic issues.”
Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent weeks over the unresolved issues of oil revenues and their disputed border.
Sudanese warplanes bombed a South Sudanese market and an oil field Monday, killing at least two people, and dropped eight more bombs Tuesday.
Kiir told Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday that Sudan had “declared war” on his country. The comment signaled a rise in rhetoric between the two sides, which spent decades at war with each other, though neither country has officially declared war.
Kiir originally planned to spend five days in China, a key economic and strategic partner for the newly independent country. It remained unclear exactly when he would return to South Sudan.
China’s energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans. Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the Sudanese conflict, given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan’s government in the north.
