The chairman of the executive board of the Libyan opposition’s National Transitional Council, Mahmoud Jibril, will visit China for two days from Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a single sentence statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
China has not taken a firm side in the war between Qaddafi’s forces and the opposition groups now encroaching on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and has said its recent meetings with Libyan government and opposition representatives are part of an effort to encourage a cease-fire and negotiated end to the war.
But courting the opposition so openly has marked a policy adjustment for China, which while never a close ally of Qaddafi, generally avoids wading into other nations’ domestic conflicts.
Beijing this month hosted Libya’s Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi, and China said its door was also open to opposition National Transitional Council.
Around half of China’s crude oil imports last year came from the Middle East and north Africa region, where Chinese companies have a big presence. Beijing mobilized navy ships and civilian aircraft to help tens of thousands of Chinese workers flee Libya earlier this year.
China was among the emerging powers that abstained in March when the United Nations Security Council authorized the NATO-led air strikes against Qaddafi’s forces. China could have used its veto power as a permanent member.
But Beijing quickly condemned the expansion of the strikes, and has since urged a cease-fire it says could open the way for compromise between the Libyan government and opposition fighters.
