KHARTOUM: South Sudan on Friday accused Sudan of launching an air strike on one of its oil regions, imperilling the chances of a promised cease-fire between the two former civil war foes, but Khartoum denied the charge. The 1,800 km-long (1,200 mile) border between the two countries had been largely quiet for the past 48 hours, raising hopes that they could begin talks to end a series of clashes over oil exports, border demarcation and citizenship that have pushed them closer toward a full-blown war. But South Sudan’s army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer said on Friday that Khartoum was again on the offensive. “There was an aerial bombardment in Lalop at Unity state at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Thursday,” he said, speaking from Juba. “At the same time our position in Teshween was shelled using ground artillery.” Sudan’s army spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment, but Sudan’s Information Ministry spokesman denied the allegations. “This is a lie. The Sudanese government is focusing on protecting its border and rooting out the SPLA from its territories,” said Rabie Abdelatie. Claims of the attack came after Sudan said it was ready to accede to international demands for a halt to hostilities, albeit with a significant caveat. “The ministry points out in light of the repeated attacks and aggressions that South Sudan’s army is carrying out ...the Sudanese armed forces will find itself forced to use the right to self-defense,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Limited access to the remote border areas make it difficult to verify often contradictory statements from both sides. THREAT OF SANCTIONS The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution threatening Khartoum and Juba with sanctions unless they stopped fighting and resumed talks within two weeks, endorsing an African Union deadline of May 8 for negotiations to begin. Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party has shrugged off the threat, saying such US-backed resolutions “aim to punish Sudan and reward the aggressor,” the state SUNA news agency said on Friday. The African Union has drawn up a seven-point road map for peace that demands both countries withdraw their troops from contested areas and resume talks. Africa’s largest country before the South gained independence last July, Sudan sits atop some of the continent’s most significant oil resources. But it lost three-quarters of the oil after Juba’s seceded under a 2005 settlement that ended two decades of civil war. The pipelines to export the oil are all located in the north, however, and a dispute about how the oil wealth should be divided has stoked fears of a return to war. The conflict has brought nearly all oil production to a standstill, damaging both countries’ oil dependent economies. New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Sudanese forces of conducting “indiscriminate bombings and abuses” against civilians in the Nuba Mountains and South Kordofan. It has said the violence may amount to crimes against humanity. Sudan dismissed the charges. The Sudanese army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a rebel group, have been fighting in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since last year. “The government does not attack civilians. The ones who are (attacking) are the SPLM-N and this is their creed. The government is committed to protecting its civilians from these rebel movements that indiscriminately loot and kill,” Abdelatie, the spokesman for Sudan’s Information Ministry, told Reuters.
Britain’s Starmer seeks to bolster China ties despite Trump warning
- “The UK has got a huge amount to offer,” he said in a short speech at the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China
SHANGHAI: Visiting Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday Britain has a “huge amount to offer” China, after his bid to forge closer ties prompted warnings from US President Donald Trump.
Starmer’s trip is the first to China by a British prime minister in eight years, and follows in the footsteps of other Western leaders looking to counter an increasingly volatile United States.
Leaders from France, Canada and Finland have flocked to Beijing in recent weeks, recoiling from Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against NATO allies.
Trump warned on Thursday it was “very dangerous” for Britain to be dealing with China.
Starmer brushed off those comments on Friday, noting that Trump was also expected to visit China in the months ahead.
“The US and the UK are very close allies, and that’s why we discussed the visit with his team before we came,” Starmer said in an interview with UK television.
“I don’t think it is wise for the UK to stick its head in the sand. China is the second-largest economy in the world,” he said.
Asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said “China is willing to strengthen cooperation with all countries in the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win results.”
Starmer met top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties.
He told business representatives from Britain and China on Friday that both sides had “warmly engaged” and “made some real progress.”
“The UK has got a huge amount to offer,” he said in a short speech at the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China.
The meetings the previous day provided “just the level of engagement that we hoped for,” Starmer said.
He signed a series of agreements on Thursday, with Downing Street announcing Beijing had agreed to visa-free travel for British citizens visiting China for under 30 days, although Starmer acknowledged there was no start date for the arrangement yet.
The Chinese foreign ministry said only that it was “actively considering” the visa deal and would “make it public at an appropriate time upon completing the necessary procedures.”
Starmer hailed the agreements as “symbolic of what we’re doing with the relationship.”
He also said Beijing had lifted sanctions on UK lawmakers targeted since 2021 for their criticism of alleged human rights abuses against China’s Muslim Uyghur minority.
“President Xi said to me that that means all parliamentarians are welcome,” Starmer said in an interview with UK television.
He traveled from Beijing to economic powerhouse Shanghai, where he spoke with Chinese students at the Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation, a joint institute between Donghua University and the University of Edinburgh.
- Visas and whisky -
The visa deal could bring Britain in line with about 50 other countries granted visa-free travel, including France, Germany, Australia and Japan, and follows a similar agreement made between China and Canada this month.
The agreements signed included cooperation on targeting supply chains used by migrant smugglers, as well as on British exports to China, health and strengthening a bilateral trade commission.
China also agreed to halve tariffs on British whisky to five percent, according to Downing Street.
British companies sealed £2.2 billion in export deals and around £2.3 billion in “market access wins” over five years, and “hundreds of millions worth of investments,” Starmer’s government said in a statement.
Xi told Starmer on Thursday that their countries should strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the context of a “complex and intertwined” international situation.
Relations between China and the UK deteriorated from 2020 when Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong and cracked down on pro-democracy activists in the former British colony.
However, China remains Britain’s third-largest trading partner, and Starmer is hoping deals with Beijing will help fulfil his primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.
British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca said on Thursday it would invest $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand its medicines manufacturing and research.
And China’s Pop Mart, makers of the wildly popular Labubu dolls, said it would set up a regional hub in London and open 27 stores across Europe in the coming year, including up to seven in Britain.
Starmer will continue his Asia trip with a brief stop in Japan on Saturday to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
