The conflict in Sudan has led to widespread human rights abuses, with documented attacks on Christians and other civilians.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have been accused of direct involvement in these attacks, particularly in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, where Sudan's largest Christian population resides.
The SAF's drone strike on Christmas Day 2025 killed at least 11 people traveling to a church service, while repeated shelling of churches has been ongoing since the war began in 2023.
Human rights and religious freedom organizations have documented attacks by both the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on churches and Christian communities throughout the conflict.
The SAF's composition has drawn accusations that Islamist networks have embedded themselves within the army, supplying manpower, financing, and logistical support in exchange for political protection and a pathway back into Sudan's institutions.
The U.S. State Department has designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and has accused the group's armed wing, the al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, of carrying out mass executions of civilians based on race, ethnicity, or perceived affiliation with opposition groups.
China has provided diplomatic, financial, and strategic support to the SAF-led government, despite the documented human rights abuses, and has used debt relief and resource agreements to expand its long-term influence over Sudan's mineral wealth.
The relationship between China and Sudan predates the current conflict and has continued throughout the war, providing the SAF-led government with both financial support and diplomatic cover at the UN Security Council.
China has also signed a protocol with Sudan canceling four interest-free Chinese government loans totaling 344.52 million yuan, about $50 million, effective immediately, while Sudan's minerals minister traveled to Beijing to negotiate an agreement granting a Chinese company the right to explore for copper in Red Sea State.
The agreement would run for 30 years, with Sudan retaining 30 percent of the profits, but the Beja Congress and the Eastern Sudan Advisory Council have called for an immediate halt to any agreements involving the region's mineral wealth until the war ends and a peace settlement is reached.
Analysts describe Beijing's approach as pairing modest debt-forgiveness measures with long-term resource agreements that secure access for decades, regardless of who governs Sudan after the war.
The UN Security Council has unanimously renewed the Darfur arms embargo and targeted sanctions, with China voting in favor and expressing support for efforts to stem the flow of illicit arms, but China has also sought to limit the scope of the sanctions regime.
Historically, China has threatened to veto sanctions and opposed the deployment of UN peacekeepers without Khartoum's consent, but it has ultimately abstained rather than exercised its veto on individual measures.
Direct China-to-Sudan arms sales are well documented from the 1990s and 2000s, before the current war, and Chinese-made weapons remain on the battlefield, though current evidence points to indirect transfers rather than direct sales.
The conflict in Sudan has led to a significant humanitarian crisis, with over 1.5 million people killed and 14 million displaced, and the international community has been criticized for its inaction in the face of these atrocities.
