During a public lecture at the School of Public Policy (SPP) at Central European University on November 17, Luke Patey discussed China’s involvement in Sudan and South Sudan. Patey, who is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and a Research Associate at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies at the University of Oxford, is the author of The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan (Hurst, 2014).
In his remarks, Patey observed that, “We often hear about China’s impact on Africa, but seldom about Africa’s impact on China.” Although he touched on the role of the Chinese state in Sudan, Patey focused his attention on the actions of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Patey told the stories of three Chinese men who worked for CNPC to demonstrate the company’s engagement in Sudan: Zhou Yongkang, who held prominent positions in both the Chinese government and in CNPC and pushed the company to get involved in Sudan in the first place; geologist Su Yongdi, who has become a legend in the Chinese oil industry because of his extraordinary success at identifying profitable oil wells; and Cui Leilei, who originally trained as a plumber before going to Sudan, and was one of five Chinese oilmen who were abducted and later killed by Misseriya fighters in the so-called “10.18 incident” in October 2008.
Patey explained that it was Zhou Yongkang and CNPC that “dragged” the Chinese government, and later Chinese investors, into Sudan. Although the company and the government often cooperated, there were also many occasions when their interests diverged. “The Chinese national oil companies are not part of the monolithic Chinese state: disagreements between the two exist,” said Patey.
Patey said that CNPC has learned valuable lessons in Sudan. He noted, for example, that it was because of its experience in Sudan, that CNPC had “upped its corporate social responsibility game and was working with civil society on conflict sensitivity.” The 10.18 incident had also had a profound impact on the company leading it to organize programs for more than 50,000 workers to train them about how they should behave if they are kidnapped. Its experience in Sudan also caused CNPC to diversify its portfolio by seeking investment in places like the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Patey went on to observe that although there had been some setbacks and disappointments, CNPC had benefited enormously from its involvement in Sudan—not just financially, but organizationally and politically as well. “Sudan was a vehicle for CNPC to launch itself internationally,” he said.
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Watch an interview with Patey here.