China and Sudan Bilateral Relations: It's the Oil

“China and Sudan Bilateral Relations: It’s the Oil!”

1. Introduction:

Official diplomatic relations have been established between Sudan and China in 1959 , and the two country’s bilateral relations have witnessed a tremendous growth since then in all fields, particularly economy and trade. By 1996, China’s National Petroleum Company (CNPC) took control of most of Sudan’s oil , and since then China has been heavily involved in managing Sudan’s oil production and operations. Nowadays, China is Sudan's top biggest trade partner . There are speculations over China’s driving interest in Africa and specifically Sudan, and several views and arguments. However, if we focus on the driving force behind China’s interest in Sudan, we’ll find that it’s mostly driven by oil. Without oil, there would be no strong bilateral relations between the two countries. That is evident because, first of all, international relations are driven by national interest, which is oil in China’s case. Second, China has invested billions of dollars in Sudan’s oil industry including oil’s infrastructure. Third, China has ignored all of Sudan’s oppressive government acts and non-humanitarian activities in Darfur, and has always protected their economic ties and oil operations there. Those three reasons, which will be detailed below, are the apparent evident that China’s main interest in Sudan is oil.

2. Argument 1#: National interest is the driving force of international relations

“The main point of foreign policy is to protect and defend the interests of the state in world politics…All states must be prepared to sacrifice their international obligations on the altar of their own self-interest...” Historically, states relations were derived by national in...

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