Libya's foreign minister visits China

[pampango]

Source: CBC

China said Tuesday that Libya's foreign minister is visiting Beijing just days after Chinese officials announced they had reached out to the rebel forces challenging Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

On Friday, Beijing said the head of Libya's rebel council met with China's ambassador to Qatar in the Qatari capital, Doha, in what was the first known contact between the two sides. China's decision to engage the rebels was a diplomatic setback for Gadhafi. Apparently seeking to reassert the Libyan government's influence, Foreign Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi arrived Tuesday in Beijing for a three-day visit.

The revolt against Gadhafi followed popular uprisings that overturned the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. A coalition of rebels has seized control of much of eastern Libya and set up an administration based in Benghazi.

When fighting erupted in Libya, China dispatched military transport planes and arranged chartered boats to evacuate an estimated 30,000 Chinese working there, mostly in the construction and oil industries, comprising one of the largest blocs of foreign labourers.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/07/libya-china-diplomacy.html?ref=rss

[Demeter]

1. And so, the Great China Game Begins