NEW CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO CHAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000042 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EPET MOPS PREF PREL CD SUBJECT: NEW CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO CHAD NDJAMENA 00000042 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Capping the reestablishment of relations with Chad, China's foreign minister visited N'Djamena January 6-7. China,s new envoy to Chad told the Ambassador that China recognizes that development in Chad and the region requires peace and stability. He noted China's interest in Chad's oil sector. As Sudan,s &friend,8 China has and will continue to exercise its influence on Sudan in support of international efforts to bring peace to Darfur and eastern Chad. The Chinese ambassador claimed that his government did not approve the supply of Chinese-made arms allegedly used by Chadian rebels last year. According to China's foreign minister, Chad and China have reached agreement on infrastructure development and debt forgiveness and are looking into joint venture arrangements for oil exploration. China's takeover of the interests in an oil exploration venture held by the Canadian company Encana is expected shortly. End summary. ¶2. (U) Chad reestablished diplomatic relations with China in late August after a nine-year hiatus in which diplomatic relations with Taiwan (now severed) were maintained. China's newly arrived ambassador to Chad, Wang Yingu, called on the Ambassador January 10. ¶3. (SBU) Wang said that he and his staff of nine are still in the process of getting installed. Ambassador Wang and staff are currently in hotel lodging and although the chancery building used by the Taiwanese has reverted to the Chinese government, it is unfurnished. Despite their unsettled state, Wang described an active work program that included a visit last week by his foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, and the arrival at the end of January of a Chinese assessment mission to develop a technical assistance program for Chad. Wang expects the focus of Chinese assistance to be in agriculture, health and road building. He added that he hopes to reopen an abandoned agricultural research farm at Koundoul that the Chinese operated before the break in relations. Oil --- ¶4. (SBU) Queried by the Ambassador on Chinese commercial plans and interests, Wang responded that a commercial agreement that gave duty free access to the Chinese market for almost all Chadian exports was signed during his foreign minister,s visit and that the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) was investing in oil exploration though the purchase of shares of the Canadian oil exploration company Encana. Sudan and Regional Stability -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Wang said that his foreign minister had stressed to Chadian counterparts that China was playing an active role in restoring peace to Darfur and eastern Chad. Stability and peace are key to economic and social development, he added. Wang described the constructive role China has played in encouraging Sudan to exercise flexibility in responding to ongoing peace efforts. As a &good friend8 to Sudan that recognized that Darfur was an &internal8 problem that ultimately had to be resolved among the Sudanese, Wang claimed Chinese influence was instrumental in convincing the Sudanese government to accept a hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur. Wang noted that China had also provided financial and material support for African Union (AMIS) troops in Sudan and was providing humanitarian support for refugees. Chadian Rebel Use of Chinese Arms -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Wang claimed that the Chinese government was ¬ aware8 of the Chadian rebels using Chinese-manufactured arms during rebel assault on N,Djamena on April 13, 2006. China does not &meddle in the internal affairs8 of other countries as a core principle of national policy, he added. He commented that if the allegations of rebel use of Chinese-made arms were &true,8 it did not mean that China supported the rebels. He noted several possible other explanations such as provision by Sudan, which he said would have been a violation of the third-party use provisions of NDJAMENA 00000042 002.2 OF 002 Chinese arms sales agreements, or acquisition from the international arms market. Chad's Foreign Minister on Chinese Foreign Minister,s Visit -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Chadian Foreign Minister Allam-mi told Ambassador January 10 that the visit of the Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to Chad had been agreed to on the margins of the Sino-Africa Summit on Sudan in Beijing. Agreements thus far reached between Chad and China include debt forgiveness, technical assistance, infrastructure development and credit packages. While Chinese companies have thus far financed no projects, they are examining specific areas, including the financing of a refinery and cement plant. Allam-mi also said that the Chinese have expressed interest in working with Chadians on oil exploration, and have made informal proposals that include joint-ventures with the Chadian national oil company (SNT) on future oil exploration. He emphasized that the Chinese have expressed interest in stability in Chad, as initiatives to identify and exploit natural resources will not be viable without internal stability. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: Ambassador learned from Encana,s Chad representative January 11, that CNPC,s takeover of Encana interests here was just about done and should be announced January 12. Clivedon, the other participant in the consortium, was already 100 percent Chinese-owned. Encana had already announced within the last few months its intention to sell out. The sale will make CNPC the second largest foreign oil company presence in Chad after the consortium led by Exxon-Mobil. Taiwan is still working to develop the oil exploration concession it established early last year before the rupture in relations with Chad. WALL