U.S. seeks explanation from Beijing

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 22. The Bush administration is asking China to explain the presence of its workers at Iraq's air defence systems; but Washington has stopped short of accusing Beijing of flouting the United Nations sanctions regime.

``We have raised with China our specific concerns about reports of fibre optic cables and telecommunications projects in Iraq'', said Mr. Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman.

It has also been revealed that the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, had raised the subject with the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Yang Jiechi, when he came to present his credentials. ``... We are still awaiting a detailed response... The Secretary made that point this morning to the Chinese Ambassador'', the spokesman said.

The issue of Chinese workers - perhaps even military officials - at Iraqi air defence sites has been raised before in much more general terms. According to Mr. Boucher, the matter was raised by the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. David Welch, when he visited Beijing in January. Unnamed senior officials of the Bush administration have been saying that Chinese civilian and military officials have been helping Iraq boost its capabilities by using Chinese fibre optic cables.

In fact, officials here have been saying that the air attacks over Iraq last Friday was timed to prevent casualties of Chinese workers in the area. The argument is being made here that American and British jets hit Iraqi targets knowing that Iraqi or Chinese civilian workers will not be working on a Muslim holy day. Washington is being careful not to repeat what happened in Belgrade in 1999 when in the course of bombing targets in Yugoslavia, the Chinese embassy was hit, resulting in casualties.

Meanwhile, the former United Nations Arms Inspector to Iraq, Mr. Richard Butler, has said that the Security Council could be seriously undermined if it was proved that China had provided fibre optics to enhance Iraqi air defences. Mr. Butler has made the argument that as a permanent member of the Security Council, China would be undermining the Council's own decisions. ``It would bring the Security Council into further disrepute. It would make countries wonder about just exactly what motivated China into behaving this way'', Mr. Butler was quoted as saying.

At a time when a lot of noise is being made on Chinese fibre optics, there is also an ongoing debate as to how effective last week's air raids against Iraq has been. While the Pentagon has been maintaining that the attacks had achieved the purpose of ``disrupting and degrading'' Iraqi air defences, unnamed officials say that the strikes had damaged fewer than half of the targeted radars.

PTI reports from Beijing:

Beijing today angrily refuted Washington's allegation that its personnel were helping Iraq in upgrading its air defence systems by violating U.N.-imposed sanctions.

``We made our stance clear: that any effort to mislead the public and divert public attention is out of ulterior motive and futile,'' said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr. Zhu Bangzao, in a statement. Iraq has also denied the U.S. charge.

Mr. Zhu said China had always carried out the resolution on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. ``The U.N. resolution on Iraq should be carried out fully,'' he said maintaining that the international community should fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.

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Section  : International
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