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China calls for stability in Libya after attacks

BEIJING | Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:48am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China wants stability restored to Libya as soon as possible, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday after Western forces launched strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's troops.

Expressing regret about the attacks, the Chinese foreign ministry said that it hoped the conflict would not escalate and lead to greater loss of civilian life.

China had the chance to veto last week's United Nations Security Council resolution that authorized "all necessary measures," a term for military action, to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces. Instead, it joined Russia, Germany, India and Brazil in abstaining.

China has been trying to balance its worries about allowing military action with the demands of Arab and other governments angered by Gaddafi's unyielding response to uprisings demanding an end to his rule.

"China has noticed the latest developments in Libya and it expresses regret about the military attacks," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

"We hope that Libya can recover stability as soon as possible and that an escalation of military conflict leading to more civilian deaths can be avoided," it added.

China's comments came just hours after French planes fired the first shots in what is the biggest international military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Western forces hit targets along the Libyan coast. Libyan state television said 48 people had been killed and 150 wounded in the air strikes.

Throughout the recent tumult across the Middle East and North Africa, China has sought to avoid becoming deeply enmeshed and has little appetite for turning the regional upheaval into a point of confrontation with the United States.

Libya is considering offering oil block contracts directly to China, India and other nations it sees as friends in its month-long conflict with rebels, Libya's top oil official said on Saturday.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch and Huang Yan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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Comments (3)
marisa70394 wrote:
China, it seems, likes to talk out both sides of its mouth. By doing so, it always has an “exit strategy”. I like when China says that it never likes to use force. The use of force is what epitomizes China’s entire history. They used force during the Korean war, Vietnam war, the Tibetans, Uighurs, and now they use force against all their neigbhors, including a great deal of intimidation. China has also embarked on a massive military build up as a means of “diplomatic force”. So, China is using its old tricks “lies and deceit” when it makes pronouncements about its intervention in other countries. It is pure propaganda, and the sooner the entire world understands what China is doing, the better off we’ll be.

Mar 20, 2011 3:26am EDT  --  Report as abuse
kc10man wrote:
No matter what some Libyan government official says, all oil exports play on the oil market. Libya cannot chose whom shall import from them. Just from a Geographic perspective, their oil will continue to power Italian Mopeds for years to come despite the outcome of this absurd conflict.

Mar 20, 2011 6:33am EDT  --  Report as abuse
marisa70394 wrote:
The WSJ is asking the right question, and it’s not fair to say that the WSJ got us into this mess. What I do hope is that the rebels do come up with a game plan to have what Egypt and Tunisia are working on – a real democracy. It will be worth all this effort if that can be achieved. Of course, this war game is a bit of practice for how coalitions can defeat Iran when that day comes. Once Iran’s regime is overthrown, the biggest prize of all is miltarily encircling China so that it either has to accept democracy for its people or meet with the same fate as Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. No country is more worried about its future than China since all of these recent developments point to one thing – dictatorships are instrinsically weak and one little spark can set off a wildfire burning for democratic freedoms.

Mar 20, 2011 3:41pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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