The leader of Libya’s rebel opposition arrived here for talks on Tuesday as a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman for the first time described the opposition as “an important political power in Libya.”
The leader, Mahmoud Jibril, is scheduled to meet with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, during his two-day visit here, the spokesman announced at a news conference. The foreign ministry tends to be very conscious of protocol, and the meeting with Mr. Jibril comes after Mr. Yang met with Colonel Qaddafi’s foreign minister in Beijing this month.
“We are in contact with both parties in Libya, urging the parties to ease conflict in order to facilitate the national and people’s fundamental interests as soon as possible,” the ministry’s spokesman, Hong Lei, said.
China has consistently preached nonintervention in recent years and has opposed international efforts to put pressure on even repressive governments like those in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea. When the United Nations Security Council voted in March to authorize airstrikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s forces to prevent them from killing civilians in opposition areas, China was one of five countries that abstained.
China’s departure from its usual reticence toward political opposition groups has prompted significant discussion among experts on China’s foreign policy, with the main focus on the country’s shift from being an oil exporter as recently as the early 1990s to importing half its oil now.
“It’s unusual for them to negotiate with anyone other than the incumbent government, but clearly China has oil interests,” said ’Ben Simpfendorfer, the managing director of Silk Road Associates, an economic and political consultancy in Hong Kong that focuses on China’s relations with the Mideast.
Libya was a large oil exporter until the recent civil conflict halted shipments.
Asked at the news conference on Tuesday if inviting an opposition leader to negotiations reflected China’s desire to be prepared no matter which side wins in the Libyan conflict, Mr. Hong replied in part: “We believe that Libya’s future should be decided by the Libyan people. China respects the Libyan people’s freedom of choice.”
Mr. Jibril is the chairman of the executive board of the Libyan opposition’s National Transitional Council.
Strong criticism of Colonel Qaddafi by other Arab countries, like Qatar, as well as efforts by African leaders to negotiate a settlement in Libya may have made China more willing to depart from its usual practice of avoiding contact with opposition groups, Mr. Simpfendorfer said.
China buys half of its oil and gas from the Mideast, and now buys more oil and oil products from Saudi Arabia, for example, than the United States does.
China also buys sizable quantities of oil from Libya, although less than it buys from Saudi Arabia. China purchased $4.45 billion worth of Libyan crude oil last year, according to data from Global Trade Information Services Inc., a data service based in Columbia, S.C.
China’s ambassador to Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, met another Libyan opposition leader in Doha on June 2. Chen Xiaodong, the director general of the West Asian and North African Affairs Department of the Chinese foreign ministry, said a week later that China would welcome a visit by Libyan opposition envoys.
“China believes that the Libyan opposition National Transitional Council has become an important political force in Libya,” Mr. Hong said on Tuesday. “We would like to remain in contact with the N.T.C. and work towards a political solution.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/asia/22china.html?_r=1&ref=china
I'd imagine Qaddafi feeling as pissed as what Chinese members feel when the White House greets the Dalai Lama or the Taiwanese president.
The leader, Mahmoud Jibril, is scheduled to meet with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, during his two-day visit here, the spokesman announced at a news conference. The foreign ministry tends to be very conscious of protocol, and the meeting with Mr. Jibril comes after Mr. Yang met with Colonel Qaddafi’s foreign minister in Beijing this month.
“We are in contact with both parties in Libya, urging the parties to ease conflict in order to facilitate the national and people’s fundamental interests as soon as possible,” the ministry’s spokesman, Hong Lei, said.
China has consistently preached nonintervention in recent years and has opposed international efforts to put pressure on even repressive governments like those in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea. When the United Nations Security Council voted in March to authorize airstrikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s forces to prevent them from killing civilians in opposition areas, China was one of five countries that abstained.
China’s departure from its usual reticence toward political opposition groups has prompted significant discussion among experts on China’s foreign policy, with the main focus on the country’s shift from being an oil exporter as recently as the early 1990s to importing half its oil now.
“It’s unusual for them to negotiate with anyone other than the incumbent government, but clearly China has oil interests,” said ’Ben Simpfendorfer, the managing director of Silk Road Associates, an economic and political consultancy in Hong Kong that focuses on China’s relations with the Mideast.
Libya was a large oil exporter until the recent civil conflict halted shipments.
Asked at the news conference on Tuesday if inviting an opposition leader to negotiations reflected China’s desire to be prepared no matter which side wins in the Libyan conflict, Mr. Hong replied in part: “We believe that Libya’s future should be decided by the Libyan people. China respects the Libyan people’s freedom of choice.”
Mr. Jibril is the chairman of the executive board of the Libyan opposition’s National Transitional Council.
Strong criticism of Colonel Qaddafi by other Arab countries, like Qatar, as well as efforts by African leaders to negotiate a settlement in Libya may have made China more willing to depart from its usual practice of avoiding contact with opposition groups, Mr. Simpfendorfer said.
China buys half of its oil and gas from the Mideast, and now buys more oil and oil products from Saudi Arabia, for example, than the United States does.
China also buys sizable quantities of oil from Libya, although less than it buys from Saudi Arabia. China purchased $4.45 billion worth of Libyan crude oil last year, according to data from Global Trade Information Services Inc., a data service based in Columbia, S.C.
China’s ambassador to Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, met another Libyan opposition leader in Doha on June 2. Chen Xiaodong, the director general of the West Asian and North African Affairs Department of the Chinese foreign ministry, said a week later that China would welcome a visit by Libyan opposition envoys.
“China believes that the Libyan opposition National Transitional Council has become an important political force in Libya,” Mr. Hong said on Tuesday. “We would like to remain in contact with the N.T.C. and work towards a political solution.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/asia/22china.html?_r=1&ref=china
I'd imagine Qaddafi feeling as pissed as what Chinese members feel when the White House greets the Dalai Lama or the Taiwanese president.
