China’s BRI and Developmental Peace in South Sudan (2013–2022): Rethinking Chinese African Relations in the Context of Oil, Sanctions, and Peacekeeping

The outbreak of civil war in South Sudan in December 2013, barely two and half years after its independence, demanded China’s rethinking of its foreign policy toward the nascent state and its implications for the wider context of China’s East African policy. At the time, China was juggling a foreign policy composed of conflicting economic, strategic, and political interests in South Sudan and the wider region of East Africa with efforts to build up its position as a global power dedicated to conflict resolutions and to peacekeeping missions. This article reviews the ways that China’s foreign policy on South Sudan and on the wider region of East Africa was shaped and transformed over the course of the phases of the civil war in South Sudan. Through an analysis of important dimensions of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in East Africa and its thinking on developmental peace, this article examines the history of China’s relations with South Sudan, and the effect of its concept of developmental peace on these relations. More specifically, the analysis highlights how China’s policies on South Sudan were shaped by its political, strategic, and economic interests, first and foremost those related to oil, and by China’s commitment to peace and security actions in South Sudan, including its role as mediator and its involvement in peacekeeping operations during the ongoing years of the South Sudanese civil war.