CHAN:
China is the biggest investor in Sudan. The communist party has been criticized by the international community for its support of the Sudan government amidst the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Now with war indictment crimes being discussed for Sudan's president, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to defer the case. Let's take a look at that story.
STORY:
The Chinese Communist Party said on January 7th that it is seeking for a postponement of war indictment crimes against the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
In July, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir, accusing him of orchestrating genocide in Darfur where international experts say fighting has killed 200,000 people. Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes in Darfur since rebels took up arms against the Arab government in 2003.
Liu Guijin, Beijing's envoy for Sudan, said he has been meeting with officials in Britain, France, the United States and Russia to try to defer of the case against the president. Liu said that China, one of the Security Council's permanent members, had no plans to table the motion for the trial but would support any move to hold off proceedings.
But Sudanese officials say Britain, France and the United States have threatened to veto any postponement. Several government insiders have privately acknowledged that a postponement was now unlikely and that the ICC will probably issue its warrant.
A decision on the warrant is expected in the next few weeks.
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