Tension between human rights absolutists of President Obama’s inner circle and the pragmatists in Washington’s Clintonian wing will next be glimpsed in a fight that is emerging around the small but resource-rich western Africa country, Equatorial Guinea.

The country has long been an American ally, but with petroleum reserves that oil analysts equate with Saudi Arabia’s, and rare earth mineral reserves that can be used in high technology manufacturing, Equatorial Guinea can easily fall prey to China, Washington and U.N. sources warn.

It is even more likely to drop its Western alliances if America turns its back on President Obiang, the dictator of the country since 1979, who finds himself increasingly in the crosshairs of human rights advocates. Washington advocates of ties with Mr. Obiang say America would become much more successful if it nudges him toward reform than if it continues to wag an accusatory finger.

They note than even such a revered figure among human rights advocates as South Africa’s Bishop Tutu, has changed his mind, writing to him in a recent letter that he was “encouraged and impressed” by steps Mr. Obiang has promised to take to reform the country and end corruption there.

Soon after Mr. Obiang made his pledge in June, however, his government executed four dissidents, renewing doubts about his real commitment to reform. Human Rights groups, some backed by the financier George Soros, immediately increased their attacks. But while Washingtonians debate over the merits of cooperating with African dictators, Beijing marches on.

“China is playing it much smarter than past colonial powers,” a veteran African diplomat told me recently. “The Chinese come in, they build roads, invest in infrastructure, work with the locals. They act as if taking out the oil and all that other stuff is just an afterthought,” she said.

Beijing also acts according to pure interest, steering clear of judging even the most odious human rights records of local leaders. Beijing, for example, has long prevented the U.N. Security Council from punishing the Sudanese government of Omar al Bashir for his role in the Darfur genocide and other atrocities in the western southern Sudanese regions.

“These are my people,” America’s envoy here, Susan Rice, told me a while back, speaking of human rights groups that have not only criticized China, but also said America must sharpen its criticism of Mr. al Bashir’s government.

As Equatorial Guinea prepares to host an African Union summit next summer, it is expected to become an even bigger target for the Soros-backed groups, who cite Mr. Obiang’s high ranking on international corruption lists, and say he’s one of Africa’s worst human rights violators.

Last month, after heavy pressure from the critics, the U.N. Education, Scientific, Cultural Organization decided to cancel a $3 million prize donated by Mr. Obiang, and would have carried his name as patron of the sciences.

One of the most visible figures in President Clinton’s court, the Washington lawyer Lanny Davis of Lanny J. Davis & Associates, recently signed a lucrative contract as a “technical advisor on political, legal, and economic reform” to Mr. Obiang. Mr. Davis, who remains close to the Clintons, including the Secretary of State, argues that America has interests in the African country and that, if engaged, its leader can be nudged toward significant reforms.

America “faces competition for energy and investments in Western Africa and in the Gulf of Guinea, including in Equatorial Guinea,” Mr. Davis told me shortly before flying there today. “I believe it is in the interests of the U.S., as well as those who care about democracy and human rights, to take up President Obiang on his request for help to implement his reform program.”

With Mr. Davis’ help, Mr. Obiang presented a five point reform plan during a three-day global forum in Cape Town in June, which was sponsored by Fortune, Time, and CNN and included world figures like former President Clinton.

Although the Nobel laureate Mr. Tutu agreed to meet with Mr. Obiang at the event, he joined the international outcry shortly afterward, calling UNESCO to withdraw its Obiang scientific prize. By August, after learning more about the plan, Mr. Tutu wrote Mr. Obiang a conciliatory letter, praising his new commitment for human rights, and expressing the hope that the president would stick with his pledges.

Mr. “Tutu has written the president and offered his help,” Mr. Davis said. “I hope the U.S. and the human rights community will want to help too.”