China’s Policy in South Sudan

The International Crisis Group published on 10 July 2017 a study titled “China’s Foreign Policy Experiment in South Sudan.”

Because of its oil interests in South Sudan, China has advocated a more flexible interpretation of the non-interference policy and taken a more proactive approach to its exercise of diplomacy. China continues to draw a line at intruding on matters of domestic governance; opposes regime change or unilateral military intervention; and believes that showing respect, rather than exerting pressure or inflicting punishment, is how to elicit cooperation and improvement in governance. But its considerable economic and political influence inevitably bring leverage to the table that traditional mediation efforts sometimes lack.