China opposes US sanctions on Sudan

China's special envoy to Africa, Liu Guijin, opposed expanded sanctions against Sudan as the United States unveiled tough new restrictions against the African nation and pushed for another UN resolution on Darfur, state media reported. Liu said political negotiations should go hand in hand with the implementation of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's three-phase peace plan, which foresees the deployment of a joint African Union-UN force of 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. Liu said poverty is the real cause of the problems in Darfur, and that development is the solution, urging some countries not to politicize Sino-Sudanese energy collaboration which has helped social and economic development in the poverty-stricken country. The country donated more than US$10 million to the region, some in the form of humanitarian aid such as rice, and the rest in development aid such as building schools, water projects and power generators.