China Reform Monitor: No. 962

April 7:

China has “exerted great efforts” to boost peace between Sudan and South Sudan and played a “positive role in easing the tension,” according to an unnamed official at China’s Foreign Ministry’s Department of West Asia and North Africa. “Tension between Sudan and South Sudan will negatively impact oil cooperation between China and both states,” the official said in comments carried by Sudan Vision website. He called on both sides “to preserve the oil cooperation stability and provide effective protection to [Chinese] workers and properties in the oil fields areas.”

April 10:

A consignment of 34 military trucks and trailers from China arrived in Port Mombasa, Kenya and were delivered to authorities in South Sudan. The consignment is part of South Sudan’s effort to increase military hardware imports amid “rising tensions with Sudan over boundaries and the sharing of oil resources,”Kenya’s The Star reports. The newspaper cited “sources at the port” that confirmed that South Sudan’s government is importing large quantities of military equipment and other hardware through Mombasa as part of “a long-term agreement signed a long time ago that is now being implemented in phases.”

China’s Minister of Commerce, Chen Deming, and Australia’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Cooperation in Infrastructure Construction between China and Australia. The agreement comes despite Canberra’s decision to ban Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms firm, from working on the $38 billion national broadband network due to undefined security concerns, Reuters reports. Despite both sides’ “deep concerns,” they concluded the agreement, which includes closer cooperation on project planning, exchanging information on investments and technical expertise, training and education, joint conferences, and joint infrastructure projects. They will establish a Working Group with membership from government agencies, industry organizations and major financial and business partners to help implement the MoU,China’s official Xinhua News Agency reports. China is Australia’s largest trading partner and largest export market.

April 11:

Sailors from the Filipino and Vietnamese navies occupying some of the Spratlys islands will soon visit one another to play basketball and soccer, Philippine Navy Vice-Admiral Alexander Pama said. Despite some overlapping territorial claims, the two countries have had good relations since the end of the Vietnam War. They are the only two ASEAN member countries to publicly support a combined ASEAN approach to settling the Spratlys dispute with China. Last October, the chiefs of both navies agreed to undertake a series of confidence-building measures, share more information, and coordinate search-and-rescue operations. Manila and Hanoi also agreed to set up a hotline between their coast guards and maritime police to strengthen their capability to monitor “maritime incidents,” such as piracy, and incursions into their territorial waters, the Associated Press reports.

April 13:

Three of eight Chinese fishing boats involved in a standoff between China and the Philippines have left a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. But the standoff continues, with two other Chinese surveillance ships and a Philippine coast guard vessel remaining in the area, said Philippine armed forces chief General Jessie Dellosa. The standoff began on April 10 when Chinese ships prevented the Philippine navy from detaining Chinese fishermen caught poaching at the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines. Both sides claim the uninhabited, horseshoe-shaped shoal, which lies about 200 km from Zambales, Philippines. Negotiations are underway between Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario and China’s Ambassador Ma Keqing to find a solution, the New York Times reports.