China hopes for Iraq stability
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN Senior China Analyst
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China is looking to be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq's oil industry.
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(CNN) -- Beijing has expressed the hope that Saddam Hussein's capture will expedite the restoration of peace and stability of Iraq.
But Chinese experts on the Middle East say the former dictator's arrest will not significantly improve the tough situation facing coalition forces in the country.
In a statement late Sunday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the Chinese government hoped this dramatic development would be "conducive to the Iraqi people taking their destiny into their own hands, and to realizing peace and stability in Iraq."
Liu added that "when Saddam was in power, the Iraqi people had suffered from several wars and sanctions for many years."
According to Chinese Middle East expert Professor Huang Minxing, while Saddam's capture will boost the morale of coalition troops in Iraq, "there will be no fundamental improvement in the plight of the U.S.-led coalition forces."
Huang said remnant followers of Saddam might lose their momentum, but soliders from the United States and its allies might be subject to more ferocious attack from Muslim extremists.
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These included terrorist elements who had recently infiltrated Iraq from neighboring countries.
"Only when the allied forces have won the trust and support of the Iraqi people will the problem be solved," Huang said.
Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said the Chinese authorities were most interested in taking a share of the lucrative reconstruction projects in Iraq, including oil exploration.
The analysts said this was one reason why Beijing had refrained from criticizing Washington's Iraq policy despite Chinese objections to the U.S. military incursion into the country.
In recent discussion with U.S. officials over Iraq, however, Chinese diplomats expressed dissatisfaction over the inability of Chinese construction and energy companies to get Iraq-related contracts.
China's oil consumption is increasing up by a mammoth 12 percent a year, and it is poised to surpass Japan as the second largest oil importing country in the world.
