Striking hard

Chinese officials said last week they had busted five terrorist groups planning attacks on the Olympics and detained 82 people in Xinjiang for plotting to sabotage the games.

Chinese media reports say that in the last week, security forces shot dead five knife-wielding extremists and detained 10 others who were preparing for jihad against Beijing, in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Pointing to these recent incidents, Chinese Communist Party8217;s official journal, the People8217;s Daily declared that 8220;the Beijing Olympics is facing a terrorist threat unsurpassed in Olympic history.8221; The Daily added that Chinese authorities are ready with the 8220;strictest prevention measures8221; that the Olympics had ever seen.

These include security checks on roads, and tighter screening at airports, train and subway stations. China is already implementing a tougher set of visa regulations and has sent back thousands of migrant workers back home.

It has also deployed new security forces on the streets in and around Beijing, and has offered a range of monetary rewards for citizens providing credible information on security threats to the games. It has deployed new armoured rapid response teams in Beijing that will react to any emergency situation.

Arms to Sudan

Beijing has rejected the charges aired over the weekend by a BBC documentary that Chinese companies are exporting weapons to Sudan in violation of a United Nations arms embargo.

The BBC report showed Chinese Dong Feng trucks in the war-stricken Darfur region of Sudan and said their markings suggested the export took place after the UN embargo was imposed in 2005. The BBC also alleged that China was training pilots for jet fighters exported to Sudan.

8220;A few shots of Chinese trucks in Darfur cannot be used to accuse China of fuelling the conflict in Darfur,8221; China8217;s special envoy to Darfur, Liu Guijin said. Insisting that the BBC programme was biased, Liu said, 8220;China8217;s arms sales were very small in scale and never made to non-sovereign entities. We have strict end-user certificates.8221;

The western accusations against China come amidst a bold move by the International Criminal Court to arrest and prosecute Sudan8217;s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been accused of orchestrating genocide in Darfur, the war-stricken western region of his country.

China has also received flak from the West for its recent veto, along with Russia, of a plan to impose United Nations sanctions against Zimbabwe8217;s President Robert Mugabe for the brazen manipulation of the recent elections.

Nigerian oil

Despite the growing intensity of Western criticism of China8217;s policies in Africa, there is no stopping Beijing8217;s economic diplomacy.

Last week, Beijing announced a major infrastructure project in a volatile but oil-rich region of Nigeria.

China Harbour Engineering Co. CHEC signed a memorandum of understanding with the African Finance Corporation AFC for the six-lane ring road around Port Harcourt, home to the thriving petroleum industry in Nigeria.

The deal makes Beijing a key development partner in the Niger Delta that is now at the centre of Nigeria8217;s 2.1 million barrels per day bpd oil industry. The Niger Delta, however, has been plagued by poor infrastructure and unending violence by militant groups, who have often attacked oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.

8220;The 125-km highway will be the largest municipal highway project in Africa and is expected to be a catalyst to the city8217;s economic development8221; the AFC said in a statement. If Nigeria benefits from badly needed new investments in infrastructure, China ensures its energy security. China depends on Africa for some 30 percent of oil imports and has invested heavily in top producers Nigeria and Angola.

The writer is a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.iscrmohanntu.edu.sg