Re: [Marxism] Chinese troops in Lebanon

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This article is going on two years old. Anyone know if the
Chinese troops - hardly an "occupation army" - are still
in Lebanon, and what their actual activities consist of?
Given China's negative public relations position in the
US media, we haven't heard any reports of Brutal Chinese
Repression, as we were given regarding Tibet recently.


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
========================================================
LOUIS PROYECT posted:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/chin-o04.shtml
China sends more troops to Lebanon
By John Chan
4 October 2006

In a bid to secure its interests in the Middle East and strengthen 
relations with Europe, Beijing is sending up to 1,000 troops to join 
the UN forces in Lebanon. It will be China's largest "peacekeeping"
mission since its first involvement in UN operations in the late 1980s.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced the deployment at a news 
conference with visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on 
September 18. "China is very concerned about the situation in Lebanon 
and hopes it can be fundamentally resolved," Wen declared. He also 
doubled China's aid to Lebanon to $US5 million.

The Chinese contingent will include 240 engineers already in southern 
Lebanon, as part of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL). 
Earlier, before Israel's invasion in July, China had sent 180 
military observers to the region as its first-ever "peacekeeping" 
force in the Middle East.
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bush administration backed the Israeli onslaught that killed 
1,200 people, mainly Lebanese civilians, to further US interests 
against Syria and Iran. It was part of a strategy of widening the war 
in the Middle East in order to dominate the resource-rich region. 
After the Israeli military failed to destroy Hezbollah-led 
resistance, Washington and Tel Aviv accepted a European-proposed 
"ceasefire" under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Despite holding a veto in the UN Security Council, Beijing did 
nothing when Israel attacked Lebanon. Only when a Chinese observer, 
Du Zhaoyu, was killed, along with three others, by Israel's bombing 
of a UN post on July 24, did Beijing threaten to sponsor a UN 
resolution condemning Israel's actions. China quickly backed off 
under pressure from the US, then jumped on the bandwagon to support 
Resolution 1701. Like the European powers, it was deeply concerned 
that the escalation of regional conflicts could undermine China's oil 
interests.
With the proposed UN force sandwiched in a hostile zone and lacking 
any capacity to disarm Hezbollah, various countries have been 
hesitant to send personnel there. So far only 5,000 troops, mainly 
Italian and French, have been deployed, far below the revised UNIFIL 
target of 15,000.

Initially, Beijing offered only the 240 engineers. However, it 
quickly exploited the situation to press for concessions by France, 
Italy and other European powers, on the lifting of an EU arms embargo 
imposed on China after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
The relatively large Chinese deployment is a political boost for the 
efforts of France, Italy and Germany in Lebanon. Troops from China, 
which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, are also 
regarded as more acceptable to the Zionist regime than soldiers from 
Asian Muslim countries such as Bangladesh or Indonesia.

In fact, Israel is doing lucrative business with China by providing 
Western military technologies that are formally banned by the arms 
embargo. China's new J-10 fighter jet, for example, is based on a 
model developed by Israel and funded by the US in 1980s.
French President Jacques Chirac, a leading advocate of lifting the 
embargo, hailed the Chinese decision as "a not inconsiderable 
contribution". As EU Commission president in 2004, Prodi justified 
stalling any lifting of the ban, referring to China's "human rights"
record. As Italian prime minister in Beijing last month, he declared 
that Italy "leans to lifting the embargo" and called for the issue to 
be resolved "as quickly as possible".

Conflicts over ending the 17-year-old Western arms embargo on China 
express growing international tensions. Under increased pressure from 
the US, China is seeking new allies in the EU. Concerned about the 
impact of US aggression on European interests in the Middle East, 
some in European ruling circles see China as a possible counterweight 
to the US. In recent years, France and Germany supported a lifting of 
the arms embargo on China, but were unwilling to challenge the US, 
which has consistently opposed any such move.

China's "peacekeeping"

Like other powers, China is deploying troops in the Middle East not 
for "peace", but to pursue its own interests, particularly in 
securing energy supplies. China has just commenced a Sino-Syrian 
Kawkab Oil Company oilfield project northeast of Damascus. Before 
visiting China, Prodi pointedly referred to Beijing's stakes: "It's
a 
big importer of oil from IranÂjust think about China's energy 
dependence on all that whole area."

It is unclear what the Chinese troops will do in Lebanon. The 
existing engineering units are engaged in mine clearing. Although the 
Chinese "peacekeepers" are likely to avoid any high-profile 
operation, their mere presence will set a precedent for expanded 
Chinese military interventions elsewhere.

China's state media and military brass have hailed the "peace" 
mission in Lebanon as a turning point in Chinese foreign policy. A 
prominent general, Peng Guangqian, welcomed the announcement. "This 
fits with China's new international profile and increased 
responsibilities... China's 2.3 million soldiers want to play an 
important role in preserving world peace and boosting common 
development," he told the official Xinhua news agency on September 21.

After the 1949 revolution in China, the Maoist regime appealed to 
various "national liberation" movements in Asia, Africa and Latin 
America for support. Its anti-imperialist rhetoric, like its false 
claims to be socialist, was primarily aimed at maintaining support at 
home. After reaching a rapprochement with the US in 1971 and taking a 
seat in the UN Security Council, the Chinese leadership initially 
rejected any peacekeeping missions, fearing that overseas military 
interventions could provoke domestic opposition.
In 1979, when Deng Xiaoping openly turned to the capitalist market, 
China's diplomacy also shifted markedly. It waged a border war 
against Vietnam, at the behest of the US. Beijing gradually abandoned 
its rhetoric of supporting the masses in the Middle East, Africa and 
elsewhere. It first participated in UN operations in Namibia during 
1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square suppression of the 
Chinese working class.

As international capital flooded in and China's economy grew rapidly 
in the 1990s, its UN missions expanded to places such as East Timor, 
Liberia and Congo. According to China's ministry of defence, it has 
sent over 6,000 personnel to 15 UN missions since 1990, making China 
the largest contributor of any of the five veto powers in the Security Council.

Beijing's "increased responsibilities" in deploying troops to 
Lebanon, reflect the aspirations of the emerging Chinese capitalist 
elite for a bigger role in the world. Amid deepening social 
inequality, Beijing also exploits the UN missions to foster a "great 
power" image and to promote nationalism at home. The well being of 
people around the world is the last consideration of the Chinese leadership.


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu