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South Sudan leader in China as situation between both Sudans escalates towards war
Jiang said the project was likely to take three to four years, or longer.
Zach Vertin, the senior analyst on South Sudan for the International Crisis Group, said that while the pipeline is sure to be the agenda, it’s just one piece of what is expected to be a comprehensive bilateral cooperation. Vertin said China invited Kiir last year with the broad aim of cultivating political and economic ties with the new nation.
“Economic cooperation is first and foremost about oil, but also about a potential role for Chinese banks and commercial actors in financing and facilitating the closure South Sudan’s colossal infrastructure gap,” Vertin said in an email.
Though Beijing’s principal objective has been good relations with both Sudans, Vertin said the balance has proven delicate.
“Because the visit comes amid dangerous hostilities, Beijing will try to navigate a course that both satisfies its own interests and steers the parties toward peace,” he said.
During his five-day stay, Kiir may also seek to mend differences over the expulsion in February of a senior Chinese oil executive alleged to have helped Sudan divert the South’s oil.
Jiang said kicking Liu Yingcai out of South Sudan may have been meant to prod Beijing into exerting more pressure on Sudan to stop the oil diversions but that it was unlikely to impact China-South Sudan relations in the long run.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
