China tries to drag India, Malaysia into Darfur issue

China, which buys much of Sudan's oil, is facing growing international pressure to do more to stem the violence and human rights abuses in the African country.

In an attempt to deflect increasing criticism of its support for the sanction-hit Sudanese government on the Darfur issue, China has described as "unjust" reports which targeted Chinese oil exploration in the African nation but did not mention the same by Indian and Malaysian companies.

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Raking up the issue of Indian and Malaysian oil cooperation with Sudan at a special briefing, the newly-appointed Chinese envoy for the Darfur issue Liu Guijin told reporters here on Tuesday that Chinese oil companies are not the only participants in the Sudanese oil sector.

China, which buys much of Sudan's oil and is also its backer at the United Nations, is facing growing international pressure to do more to stem the violence and human rights abuses in the African country.

While India and Malaysia are "friends" of China, "we do not want to see that the two countries are affected because of their cooperation with Sudan," Liu, who has just returned from Sudan said.

"However, we have never seen any media to question the cooperation between Sudan and India and Malaysia. So the cooperation between Sudan and China has been politicised and this is unjust and unjustified," he said.