China on Monday became the last of the United Nations Security Council’s five permanent members to officially recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council as the country’s ruling authority.
Chinese officials said on Tuesday the rebel-led transitional authority had assured Beijing that its $18 billion worth of contracts in the country, signed with the ousted Qadhafi regime, would be honoured.
The National Transitional Council’s (NTC) leaders, who had earlier reportedly suggested they would review Chinese projects signed with the Qadhafi government, had conveyed to Beijing they would “concretely abide by existing bilateral treaties and agreements”, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.
“We appreciate that, and we would like to work with Libya to promote a stable transition and the continuous development of bilateral ties,” added Ms. Jiang.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced its long-expected recognition of the NTC in a statement late on Monday night, saying China “respects the choice of the Libyan people and attaches great importance to the status and the role of NTC”.
The NTC leadership was “delighted with the result [of Chinese recognition] that has long been expected,” the statement added.
Seventy countries, including four of the UNSC’s permanent members, have already recognised the transitional council.
Chinese officials and analysts said Beijing’s delayed decision was in keeping with its measured position on the Libyan conflict.
China, along with several other developing countries including India, had earlier voiced reservations with the NATO-led military intervention in Libya, abstaining from voting on a UNSC resolution on the issue in March.
China’s ties with the Qadhafi regime have, in recent weeks, stirred debate on whether the NTC would give preference to Western countries in awarding contracts, in the wake of reports that Chinese companies had offered $200 million worth of arms to the Qadhafi regime during the conflict, despite a U.N. ban. The Foreign Ministry here said the offers were made without the knowledge of the Chinese government, and no deals were eventually done.
Ms. Jiang said on Tuesday the NTC leadership “attached great importance” to China’s status and role and “welcomes China to engage in the country’s reconstruction”, countering reports that the interim government would exclude countries like China and Russia which had not backed the rebels from the start of the conflict.
Chinese State-run companies, including the China National Petroleum Corporation, China’s largest oil and gas producer, have already announced the closure of exploration projects, costing 1.2 billion yuan ($187 million), in Libya and Niger, citing political instability. More than 30,000 Chinese workers were involved in projects in the country before the conflict.
China receives only three per cent of its oil imports from Libya. Qu Xing, the president of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), a think-tank affiliated with the Foreign Ministry, told the State-run China Daily that China played “a much smaller role” in terms of oil production when compared with Western countries, which were, in any case, expected to be awarded the most contracts by the interim government.
China, he said, was more involved in infrastructure projects, which “the new government badly needs after the war.”
