From today's Washington Times:

"David Hale, an economist who specializes in Chinese affairs, said in a recent speech that China has deployed about 4,000 troops to southern Sudan. The troops are there to protect an oil pipeline, Mr. Hale said.
The Chinese presence was first disclosed by South African government officials who told Mr. Hale about the troops during a recent visit to South Africa.
Mr. Hale said the Chinese troops represent a new concern about China. Beijing, starved for energy resources, is likely to become an expansionist power in the coming years as a way to gain access to oil and gas reserves. In addition to Africa, future energy-related targets for Beijing could include the Russian Far East, which is growing increasingly isolated from central Russia and Southeast Asia, where China, in the past, has made military moves in the South China Sea, where oil and gas deposits are believed to be held.
A U.S. government official familiar with intelligence reports confirmed that there are Chinese in Sudan. However, the official could not confirm that 4,000 Chinese troops are there.
The reported Chinese troop presence in Sudan follows an Internet report several years ago that there were 700,000 Chinese troops in Sudan. That report proved to be false". Bill Gertz

Possibly a small baby step for an energy-hungry power getting desperate??



[Edited on 5-3-2004 by Pyros]

Originally posted by Pyros

Possibly a small baby step for an energy-hungry power getting desperate??

Not a baby step but a first step. China is a 1.4 billion peoples nation and those peoples want to have allmost the same way of life that we are enjoying.
It mean they need more ressources ( gas,oil,copper,uranium.... ). And like we have only limited ressources, wed on't have to wonder what's comming. A war.

If it does go to war at some point lets just hope that their weapons are just as crappy as everything else they make in China.

it mentioned Russia's far east - Hopefully, the book 'The Bear and The Dragon' will remain fiction.

I hate to say it, but I think China's energy needs probably had something to do w/ the US getting into Iraq - before China did.

Originally posted by JackBlack
If it does go to war at some point lets just hope that their weapons are just as crappy as everything else they make in China.

Start worrying because THEY AREN'T!!

Originally posted by Seekerof

"Experts: China have an eye to African, S. American oil"

The USA ( and to a lesser point, the EU ) won't tolerate a Chinese ( military ) presence in S-A. The same for Africa. If the Chicom try to do this, they'll have the USA & the EU on the back.

Chinas military is about 1.5 million soliders.

[Edited on 5-3-2004 by Chronic7]