The Iraq War As Seen from China

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Real or contrived, the Oval Office curtain call on the war in Iraq has drawn ardent interest from the Chinese government and press, which have greeted the occasion with a reaction that veers between mournful and self-righteous. But the most important subtext in the Chinese response, albeit implicit, is a fact that says more about the changes of the last seven years than it does about the war itself: when the war began, America was strongerâ??and China was far weakerâ??than either side is now.

China was never fond of the war for both practical and philosophical reasons. It was one of five countriesâ??the others were Russia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnamâ??that had oil deals in place with Saddam Hussein when the U.S. invaded. It has since recovered its position, and far more, emerging, as the A.P. put it in June, â??as one of the biggest economic beneficiaries of the war, snagging five lucrative deals.â? While Western oil companies responded coolly to Iraqâ??s recent oil auctions, Chinese companies shrugged off â??the security risks and the countryâ??s political instability for the promise of oil.â?

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