29 Chinese taken hostage in the Sudan! What will China do?

Rebels have taken 29 Chinese hostage. what will China do? Can the PLA muster a force to rescue these Chinese citizens? Or will diplomacy rule the day?

AFP: Sudan rebels say they captured 29 Chinese workers

Sudan rebels say they captured 29 Chinese workers

By Ian Timberlake (AFP) – 5 hours ago

KHARTOUM — Rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan state have captured 29 Chinese workers after a battle with government forces, a spokesman for the insurgents said on Sunday.

Nine members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) were also being held, Arnu Ngutulu Lodi of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), told AFP.

"Yes, we have captured them," he said. "I want to assure you right now they are in safe hands."

China confirmed some of its nationals "have gone missing" after rebels on Saturday attacked the camp of a Chinese company, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

"The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy to Sudan have initiated an emergency response to the incident," Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said, according to Xinhua.

Liu did not give a figure for the number of missing, but said the ministry had summoned Sudan's charge d'affaires in Beijing and urged Khartoum to search for them.

"Currently, the Sudanese government is doing their utmost to locate and rescue the missing Chinese nationals," he said.

Lodi, of the rebels, said the Chinese have not been kidnapped and none was wounded.

They, along with the Sudanese, were captured on Saturday when the rebels destroyed a Sudanese military convoy between Rashad town and Al-Abbasiya in the northeast of the province, which has been at war since June.

Lodi said the Chinese were working mainly on road construction in the area.

They are being held in the Nuba mountains "until further notice" because of the security situation.

"Today is a little bit calm but we are expecting at any time SAF may launch an attack on us," he said.

Spokesmen for the Sudanese army and the Chinese embassy in Khartoum could not be immediately reached for comment by AFP.

But Xinhua quoted an embassy official as saying more than 20 Chinese were missing.

China is a major military supplier to the regime in Khartoum, and the largest buyer of Sudanese oil.

There is growing international concern over the situation in South Kordofan and nearby Blue Nile state, where a similar conflict broke out in September. The government is fighting ethnic minority insurgents once allied to the former rebels who now rule South Sudan.

The South gained independence from Khartoum last July after decades of civil war.

Food shortages would become critical without substantial aid deliveries into South Kordofan and Blue Nile by March, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, has said.

Khartoum has severely restricted the work of foreign relief agencies in the war zones.

It cited security concerns and also accused aid workers of using United Nations flights to deliver arms and ammunition to the rebels -- a claim for which the UN's top humanitarian official said there was "no evidence."

Princeton Lyman, the US administration's special envoy for Sudan, told reporters last week the situation is so dire Washington has warned Khartoum it would consider ways for aid to be sent in without Sudanese government approval.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserve

Through diplomacy. I don't think PLA will be allowed to rescue the hostage by force

From the tone of the rebels, it does not seem like they hold much if any ill-will towards the Chinese workers. They were most likely taken for ransom.

At present, there is no need or reason for the PLA to get involved. China has a lot of people in Sudan and Africa, and a heavy-handed special forces raid will actually give the rebels a reason to want to go and harm some Chinese when they have none at present. That is something that Beijing will take into account when deciding on their best course of action, as well as China's old non-interference policy.

All of this means that China's best bet is to reply on diplomacy to get it's people back.

However, if the Sudanese army launches a botched rescue bid and Chinese hostages are killed, or if the rebels start kill hostages to make a point, the military option may well be exercised.

It will be interesting to see if the PLAN diverts any of the ships currently on anti-piracy operations to the Sudan to give Beijing a ready military options if they decide they need one.

Although I would expect any such re-deployment to be done quietly, so don't hold your breathe hoping to hear about it on the news.

Why did the rebels bother to take Chinese hostages at all? Has this to do with Chinese oil interests that are at the heart of Sudanese powerplay? It's me guessing, but Chinese hostage taking could be a sign that the rebels want a contract to settle the fight with Khartoum and Chinese foreign interests are the pressure point to a solution. The problem is, can China broker a solution, paying money will not solve the issue, or will the fight and kidnapping escalate? Because there are many Chinese in Africa and many ongoing conflicts, the isssue will be closely watched and can have massive repercussions.

Does anyone know much about this Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N)? Who provided them the arms and ammo and why are they against the Sudan government? I thought Sudan were separated into two countries now, with South Sudan.

It's in the Sudanese government's interests to negotiate or pay the rebels off instead of using force in a risky rescue operation. Given the possibility of a soft landing in China in 2012, losing 29 nationals would make the CCP lose face and look highly incompetent to its own people.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Why did the rebels bother to take Chinese hostages at all?

I'm guessing it's the security reasons Lodi mentioned, these workers would have seen their faces, their tactics, their equipment, etc.
When you rob a bank, you'd want to do something about the people who saw your face, it's the same idea here.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Why did the rebels bother to take Chinese hostages at all?

It could be for ransom. At the least Chinese are non-African foreigners and therefore considered rich. Or possibly the money China has spent in Africa in past years has convinced some people that its a rich country. The hostage takers will probably expect China to pay to return the hostages - millions of dollars at the least.

Or they could have been taken to protect them against attack by government forces (human shields), at least for the moment.

Originally Posted by cn_habs

It's in the Sudanese government's interests to negotiate or pay the rebels off instead of using force in a risky rescue operation. Given the possibility of a soft landing in China in 2012, losing 29 nationals would make the CCP lose face and look highly incompetent to its own people.

If a ransom is paid, I have a feeling China will have to stump up the money secretly.

BBC News - Sudan troops 'free 14 missing Chinese workers'

Seems like utter chaos down there, with 14 out of the 29 rescued, and now suggestions that maybe up to 70 were captured originally.

The differing stories about how the Chinese workers came to be captured also looks interesting.

If the rebels were deliberately targeting the Chinese for political or idealogical reasons, then there would be no need for them to go saying that the Chinese were caught in the crossfire when they attacked a government military unit.

The Chinese also have no reason to lie about the workers' compound being attacked.

That means that either the rebels attacked the Chinese compound thinking it was an army base, which is extremely unlikely, or that they were thinking of taking the Chinese hostages for ransome, but didn't want to do so openly for fear of that damaging their political aims by them being labeled as common criminals.

Originally Posted by Equation

Does anyone know much about this Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N)? Who provided them the arms and ammo and why are they against the Sudan government? I thought Sudan were separated into two countries now, with South Sudan.

The SPLM has successfully liberated the Southern Sudan and has a share in the oil exploitation as well as great gold resources with the money used for building up their armed forces, administration and economy. Part of the discussion about a split between north and south Sudan was about a renewed civil war between the Christian south and the Muslim north. Another component was racism with many northeners refering to themselves as Arabs(despite looking very African) and to people they considered black Africans as slaves. This dividing line between Arabs and slaves is not only the Muslim/Christian divide, but encludes also black Muslims that are considered slaves. Darfur is a prime example of such people that do neither belong to the Christian South, nor to the Arabic North. The now extreme SPLM sucess in the south after decades of desperate fighting has spurred armed resistance groups in these regions to also claim their independance and share of oil. The most likely sources of weapons for them were the enemies of the Muslim Arabic North, especially the Christian South that by kindling another fire in Sudan would be able to make their own position much safer, as well as Chad, Egypt and Lybia who all have their petty disputes with Sudan and finally the big player US that doesn't particularly like the Sudanese government and helped the original SPLA/M (despite that it was another Red Army). The chosen title SPLM/A-North makes it very clear that they want to achieve something similar to the SPLM/A in the South and you can look at it as an act of self-defense because the lack of money that kills people by means other than war.
Kind of strange world if the Red Army would be fighting the Red Army in case China intervened military.

as much as i want the PLA SOFs to kick ass(es), my hope is a hostage rescue will be undertaken only when all the other options are exhausted

Originally Posted by Kurt

The SPLM has successfully liberated the Southern Sudan and has a share in the oil exploitation as well as great gold resources with the money used for building up their armed forces, administration and economy. Part of the discussion about a split between north and south Sudan was about a renewed civil war between the Christian south and the Muslim north. Another component was racism with many northeners refering to themselves as Arabs(despite looking very African) and to people they considered black Africans as slaves. This dividing line between Arabs and slaves is not only the Muslim/Christian divide, but encludes also black Muslims that are considered slaves. Darfur is a prime example of such people that do neither belong to the Christian South, nor to the Arabic North. The now extreme SPLM sucess in the south after decades of desperate fighting has spurred armed resistance groups in these regions to also claim their independance and share of oil. The most likely sources of weapons for them were the enemies of the Muslim Arabic North, especially the Christian South that by kindling another fire in Sudan would be able to make their own position much safer, as well as Chad, Egypt and Lybia who all have their petty disputes with Sudan and finally the big player US that doesn't particularly like the Sudanese government and helped the original SPLA/M (despite that it was another Red Army). The chosen title SPLM/A-North makes it very clear that they want to achieve something similar to the SPLM/A in the South and you can look at it as an act of self-defense because the lack of money that kills people by means other than war.
Kind of strange world if the Red Army would be fighting the Red Army in case China intervened military.

Thanks for your post. So now the SPLM is the official army for South Sudan or they still act as a militia in defense for South Sudan? It's sad to see a modern day civil war based on religion and prejudices in Sudan. I hope the people in both Sudan and South Sudan will get better.

Originally Posted by Equation

Thanks for your post. So now the SPLM is the official army for South Sudan or they still act as a militia in defense for South Sudan? It's sad to see a modern day civil war based on religion and prejudices in Sudan. I hope the people in both Sudan and South Sudan will get better.

The SPL Movement governs Southern Sudan that has voted for independance and is on their way to become the next African Union member. The SPL Army or People's Red Army does two things, upgrade their equipment and put former soldiers to new non-military tasks in order to reduce their high numbers from the wartime.
It's similar to the party ruling China and the PLA, but the inhabitants of Southern Sudan decided for more democracy to settle their issues among diverse ethnic groups that had mostly been united in the struggle against a common enemy. History gets more complex because other than the SPLA many armed groups were active in a conflict with shifting alliances, to summarize things: It was a typical African war with lots of tribes in one "nation". The socialist ideology of the SPLM served as an ideology that allowed to form the SPLA as something that went beyond the age old petty tribal conflicts. I think this is their most important heritage because they really created the nation with John Garang John Garang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia until his untimely death as the natural leader. You can most certainly compare his role to chairman Mao as a personality that shaped their history and despite being a most talented officer he looked beyond the battlefield and wrote an academic work about capabilities of agricultural development in his homeland (It's pretty obvious that I consider him a great leader, but he's not a white hat guy White hat (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.).

From my perspective the non-Arab ethnic groups have little choice, but armed resistance, because the Arabs call them simply slaves and can go on a rampage to kill them at the drop of a hat (like in the riots after John Garang's death in an accident). Muslim identity is just a pretext for this violence and Darfur already blew that cover War in Darfur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The territorial integrity is not about any shared feeling of nationhood, but about exploiting the wealth within this territory, especially the resources on land settled by ethnic groups considered slaves. You can get a good introduction to the history of this region by reading about the Mahdi of Sudan Muhammad Ahmad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the Arab slave trade Arab slave trade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that are both at the heart of the ongoing problem.

Originally Posted by Kurt

The SPL Movement governs Southern Sudan that has voted for independance and is on their way to become the next African Union member. The SPL Army or People's Red Army does two things, upgrade their equipment and put former soldiers to new non-military tasks in order to reduce their high numbers from the wartime.
It's similar to the party ruling China and the PLA, but the inhabitants of Southern Sudan decided for more democracy to settle their issues among diverse ethnic groups that had mostly been united in the struggle against a common enemy. History gets more complex because other than the SPLA many armed groups were active in a conflict with shifting alliances, to summarize things: It was a typical African war with lots of tribes in one "nation". The socialist ideology of the SPLM served as an ideology that allowed to form the SPLA as something that went beyond the age old petty tribal conflicts. I think this is their most important heritage because they really created the nation with John Garang John Garang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia until his untimely death as the natural leader. You can most certainly compare his role to chairman Mao as a personality that shaped their history and despite being a most talented officer he looked beyond the battlefield and wrote an academic work about capabilities of agricultural development in his homeland (It's pretty obvious that I consider him a great leader, but he's not a white hat guy White hat (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.).

From my perspective the non-Arab ethnic groups have little choice, but armed resistance, because the Arabs call them simply slaves and can go on a rampage to kill them at the drop of a hat (like in the riots after John Garang's death in an accident). Muslim identity is just a pretext for this violence and Darfur already blew that cover War in Darfur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The territorial integrity is not about any shared feeling of nationhood, but about exploiting the wealth within this territory, especially the resources on land settled by ethnic groups considered slaves. You can get a good introduction to the history of this region by reading about the Mahdi of Sudan Muhammad Ahmad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the Arab slave trade Arab slave trade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that are both at the heart of the ongoing problem.

Thanks again Kurt for your post. I will keep these information in mind the next time whenever I read something about South Sudan and the SPL Movement and army. It will help me gauge the reporters or authors knowledge on the subject of Sudan and South Sudan.

China Denies Sudan Freed Workers Held by Rebels
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/wo...e-workers.html

The Sudanese military said Monday that it had rescued 14 of the 29 Chinese road workers kidnapped by rebels in southern Sudan, but China denied early Tuesday that any workers had been freed. A report Tuesday in the official China Daily newspaper said Sudanese rebels had acknowledged holding the workers, whom they described as “in good health and in safe hands.”

Sudanese officials did not provide details about the workers’ reported rescue on Monday other than saying that they had “liberated” the Chinese workers, who were seized Saturday in a rebel attack on an encampment in Southern Kordofan, an oil-rich, rebellion-racked state.

It was unclear on Monday afternoon where the remaining 15 workers were being held.

“The abducted Chinese personnel have had all communications links with the outside world cut,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said Monday, quoting a Chinese Embassy official in Khartoum.

Xinhua said 17 workers had managed to evade the attackers on Saturday and were later “moved to a safe place” by the Sudanese Army, and on Tuesday there was speculation that these 17 had been confused with the 29 who had been abducted.

In all, more than 70 road workers, Chinese and Sudanese, were kidnapped. The Chinese workers were building a road to connect two remote areas, Chinese news media said, although Western human rights groups warned last week that the Sudanese government was rapidly building roads in that same area as a way to rush in troops to crush a growing insurrection.

China is one of Sudan’s most steadfast supporters, continuing to buy billions of dollars of Sudanese oil, despite Western sanctions and the fact that Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.

China is also trying to mediate in the escalating crisis between Sudan and the newly independent nation of South Sudan, which have deadlocked in recent weeks over how to share oil revenues.

Both sides are digging in, and oil production has ground to a halt as relations between Sudan and South Sudan become more poisonous.

“The kidnapping of these workers is a crime against humanity,” said Rabie A. Atti, a Sudanese government spokesman.

On Monday, Mr. Atti said that the kidnapping of the Chinese workers was “supported by the South Sudan government,” while officials in South Sudan blamed Sudan for backing recent militia attacks in their country. It was not clear why Sudanese rebels would have kidnapped Chinese workers.

On Sunday, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, a rebel group operating in Kordofan and allied with South Sudan, said it “has nothing against China and the Chinese.”

“The leadership of the S.P.L.M.-N.,” a statement from the group said, is “exerting the maximum effort to obtain accurate information from our forces in the field regarding the Chinese who were detained in Southern Kordofan.”

Chinese companies have been operating in Sudan for years, helping increase oil production to about 500,000 barrels a day. But the formal secession in July of South Sudan, which had fought for independence for decades, has complicated things.

While most of the oil lies in the south, most of the pipelines are in the north. The two sides have failed to agree on how to share oil profits, and this month South Sudan began to shut down wells, saying no more oil would flow until a comprehensive agreement was reached.

The attack on Saturday underlined the risks for China in sending ever-greater numbers of its workers into some of the world’s most turbulent countries.

While China has been sending large work crews to unstable countries for decades, a rise in Internet usage and in the availability of information from abroad has made the Chinese public much more sensitive to what happens to the workers.

China has moved aggressively to build highways, airports, bridges, dams and other big infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions. Chinese state-owned companies send thousands of employees to do much of the work, instead of training local residents, an approach that sometimes angers local populations and put Chinese workers at risk.