China finds itself on the receiving end of tensions playing out between Sudan and South Sudan, according to an AP report on Thursday.
South Sudan kicked out the head of China's largest oil firm, accusing the company of conspiring with rival Sudan to steal the nation's oil. Sudan and South Sudan are currently in a bitter row over oil transportation fees from South Sudanese oil fields through Sudan's pipelines for export to Port Sudan.
Following are some key facts and headlines regarding the latest diplomatic problems emerging from the region.
* Liu Yingcai, president of Petrodar Operating Company, was notified on Monday that he had 72 hours to leave South Sudan.
* South Sudan shut down oil shipments through Sudan's two pipelines following the seizure of southern oil last month, Reuters reports. The southern nation wants to pay $1 a barrel in fees, but Sudan is saying it must have $36 a barrel and $1 billion in back payments.
* When the nation split last year, South Sudan inherited most of the country's oil fields, but it can only ship through Sudan. There are high hopes of building a pipeline to Kenya in 11 months, hopes that consulting Norway's Minister for Environment and International Development Erik Solheim voiced skepticism regarding.
* According to a Friday AFP report, Sudan is sending Foreign Minister Ali Karti to Beijing to attempt to deal with the growing crisis. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei said "at the moment the positions of the two countries in this regard are different, but China always encourages them to resolve this issue through negotiation."
* South Sudan has also signed an agreement to ship through Ethiopia and Djibouti in a second pipeline, but no companies have been named as being attached to either project.
* A series of kidnappings in the region, including that of 52 peacekeepers in Darfur and 29 Chinese workers in Sudan earlier this month. The workers were road builders abducted by rebels in volatile South Kordofan. They were later released, Reuters reports.
* On February 21, Hong Lei held a press conference regarding the Darfur abductions, saying "We uphold the "dual track" strategy of paying equal attention to peacekeeping deployment and political process in order to attain peace, stability and development of the Darfur region at an early date."
* The two rival nations will meet on March 3 through African Union-sponsored talks to try to resolve the crisis. Both nations are heavily dependent on oil revenues for their economies; South Sudan's budget derives 98 percent of its income from oil receipts.
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.
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