The Arab Spring hasn’t been kind to China – it has drawn significant international criticism for its decision to veto U.N. Security Council resolutions censuring Syria’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters demanding increased freedoms. But it’s in Libya where China is most likely to feel the economic pains of its rigid foreign policy. Beijing’s refusal to support the rebels who toppled Muammar Gaddafi during an eight month revolution will adversely affect China’s future dealings in Libya. The fact is that the challenges facing China in Middle Eastern countries such as Libya and Syria will force decision-makers to reconsider how their support for teetering authoritarian regimes affects their regional business interests.
Unlike Western powers such as France and Britain, China was reluctant to support Libya’s rebels when they asked the international community to intervene military last March. It abstained from a Security Council resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect civilians. Later that month, Chinese President Hu Jintao told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he should “give peace a chance.” Official Chinese media outlets described the revolution as “foreign military intervention” leading to “war and chaos.” Chinese correspondents were reportedly prohibited from using the word “revolution” in their dispatches from Libya. Despite refusing to support the rebels, Beijing initiated contact with their interim government, known as the National Transitional Council (NTC), in the spring through its embassies in Egypt and Qatar.
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