China eyes power, energy partners at A-A Summit

China eyes power, energy partners at A-A Summit

Verna Yu, Agence France-Presse/Beijing

China will seek to foster new friendships with Asian and African
countries at the Bandung Conference this week to increase its
political clout and pursue its relentless quest for energy,
analysts say.

Fifty years ago, when the conference, also known as the Asian-
African Summit, was last held, China's Communist government was
still facing diplomatic isolation, with no United Nations
membership and no recognition from most countries in the world.

But it has slowly gained status, beginning with support from
fellow developing African and Asian countries, many of whom were
participants at the initial Bandung Conference in 1955.

"That's why China joined the Bandung, to find new friends,"
said He Wenping, director of African Studies at the Chinese
Academy of Social Science.

Half a century on, the new international order after the Cold
War and the rise of the United States' hegemonic power has seen
China gain new clout.

"China has many friends in Africa, they are extremely
important in China's foreign diplomacy, and China now has new
interests in Africa -- economy and energy," said Shi Yinhong,
political scientist at the People's University in Beijing.

China has long advocated multilateralism in international
affairs and seeks solidarity with Asian and African countries to
rein in what it considers U.S. unilateralism, analysts said.

"China wants to seek Asia-African cooperation because if Asia
and Africa -- even better if Latin America is included -- become
stronger, that will keep unilateralism in check," he said.

"Most developing countries are against this kind of behavior
on the international stage, they want to seek out something
different," she said.

Another issue high on the agenda of China's delegation led by
President Hu Jintao will be its quest for energy and natural
resources that are needed to maintain its dazzling economic
growth of more than 9 percent.

Asia's second-largest economy is already the second-biggest
user of oil after the United States, importing 122 million tonnes
in 2004, up 34.8 percent from the previous year.

As such, China wants closer ties with Asia and African
countries to tap their vast oil and gas supplies, analysts said.

A net importer of petroleum products since 1993 and of crude
oil since 1996, China is reliant on overseas producers for one-
third of its supplies -- a share that is expected to rise to 60
percent by 2020.

"In order to maintain the sustainable economic development,
and now we're short of those natural resources, especially oil,
there is great need for the Chinese government to seek oil
resources from abroad," He said.

"Africa has this potential, it is quite natural for China and
Africa to grow close to each other. Even though Africa has
resources, it lacks the technology and money to develop it," she
said.

But China's new policy of prospecting for oil in Africa has
also drawn criticism in the West. It was blasted for stymying
U.S. efforts to levy sanctions on Sudan to protect its interests
in Sudan's oil industry.

China though sees nothing wrong with its quest for oil in
Africa and believes it is providing technology and financial
investment to help the continent onto a road of self-reliance and
development.

"We are already actively participating in oil exploration in
Sudan, and are engaged in cooperation with Indonesia. We plan
similar cooperation in Asia and Africa," Vice Foreign Minister Wu
Dawei told journalists.

"This kind of cooperation is very normal. It is based on
equality, mutual benefit, cooperation and the win-win basis."

Analysts said China will also use the conference in Jakarta as
a platform to seek closer cooperation and solve disputes with
other Asian countries.

Its relations with Japan have hit rock bottom in recent week
as tens of thousands of Chinese people took to the streets to
protest Japan's approval of a nationalist textbook that downplays
Japan's wartime atrocities.

With the backdrop of a summit which touts peace and
cooperation, the commitments to these values will be put to a
severe test with Sino-Japanese ties at their worst since
diplomatic relations were established in 1972.

As well as the Bandung Conference, Hu will pay state visits to
Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore before returning home on April
28.