{"id":123932,"date":"2011-09-12T13:12:04","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T20:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=123932"},"modified":"2011-09-12T13:12:04","modified_gmt":"2011-09-12T20:12:04","slug":"china-recognizes-libyas-ntc-as-ruling-authority-moves-away-from-policy-of-strict-non-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2011\/09\/china-recognizes-libyas-ntc-as-ruling-authority-moves-away-from-policy-of-strict-non-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"China Recognizes Libya's NTC as Ruling Authority; Moves Away from Policy of Strict Non-Interference"},"content":{"rendered":"
During the civil war in Libya between Colonel Qaddafi’s forces and rebel groups, China did not publicly take sides. But after the fall of Qaddafi’s government in Tripoli, official statements indicated that the Chinese government was not ready to put their support behind the newly-minted Transitional National Council<\/a>, and journalists found documents which indicated that Chinese arms dealers had in fact tried to sell arms to Qaddafi’s forces<\/a> during the conflict, in apparent violation of international sanctions. Today, the Chinese government moved away from its past support for Qaddafi by officially recognizing the NTC as the legitimate rulers of Libya, Xinhua reports<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n \n“China respects the choice of the Libyan people and attaches great importance to the status and the role of NTC, and has kept in close contact with it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a written statement.<\/p>\n The announcement was made as the NTC has controlled most part of the North African nation following a six-month civil war and about 70 countries have recognized the legitimacy of the council.<\/p>\n “China will work with the NTC to realize a steady and smooth transition and development of bilateral ties,” Ma said, stressing China hopes that all the treaties and agreements inked previously with Libya will remain effective and be implemented seriously.<\/p>\n According to the spokesman, the NTC leadership are “delighted with the result that has long been expected.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And from the Guardian<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n \nChina had already held talks with the NTC and said it valued its “important role”, but had held off full recognition.<\/p>\n “They have taken their time in recognising the rebels,” said Steve Tsang, professor of contemporary Chinese studies at Nottingham University.<\/p>\n “I would have thought they really should have done this much earlier. I suspect the timing was simply determined by the practical issues of negotiations with the National Transitional Council and that now they have something they think will be satisfactory from their perspective.”<\/p>\n But he added China’s behaviour would affect how it was seen by the rest of the world.<\/p>\n “You will have quite a lot of people concluding China is much more interested in protecting its own national interests than performing its duties as a leading power in the international scene. As [one of the] P5 [permanent members of the UN national security council] there are certain expectations and moral responsibilities \u2026 The way the post-Gaddafi situation has been handled, [people] have not been giving China a particularly high mark,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is not yet clear what impact this move will have on relations between the new Libyan government and China, which have been tense following China’s past support for Qaddafi’s regime<\/a>. The Wall Street Journal reports<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n \nIt wasn’t clear whether Monday’s announcement would pave the way for the further release of frozen Libyan funds, a major sticking point in relations between Beijing and the rebels. NTC leaders have complained recently that China was blocking the release of some such funds. Beijing has said it isn’t opposed to releasing more funds but needed to make sure adequate regulatory mechanisms were in place before agreeing.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n