China’s government considers its relations with Khartoum and Juba: researcher says

Khartoum-China’s government and China National Petroleum Corporation are reviewing their relationships with Sudan and South Sudan following years of growth that changed both sides, a researcher said at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies.
“Sudan was a launching pad for CNPC to become a global corporation through financial and resource benefits,” said Luke Patey, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies
“For much of the 2000s, CNPC took 40% of its oil from Sudan through subsidiaries as well as through the main subsidiary,” Patey said during an Oct. 20 event hosted by the SAIS China-Africa Research Initiative. “Things started to go bad for CNPC when the two Sudans signed a comprehensive peace agreement. There now was less, not more, security where local groups targeted Chinese workers.”
As Chinese corporations have become increasingly global, China’s government has had to follow with crisis diplomacy to protect its citizens and investments abroad, Patey said. “Officials in Sudan and South Sudan say they’re confused about whether they should contact the Chinese government or CNPC’s local representative,” he said. “They need to disentangle the assortment of Chinese actors and coordinate their solutions.”
Patey said, “There’s an old Chinese saying that the mightiest snake can be defeated by a local snake. It could be argued that this might apply to China’s experience in Sudan and South Sudan. While it has become very assertive in protecting its interests there, it can’t do this alone.”