BEIJING (AP) — China confirmed on Monday that representatives of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi visited in July in a bid to buy arms, news that could further damage Beijing's relations with the new opposition government in Tripoli.
Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Gadhafi's officials met with representatives from Chinese companies but insisted that no contracts were signed and no weapons were shipped. She said China strictly adheres to a United Nations ban on supplying arms to the toppled regime and backed the role of the U.N. in a post-conflict Libya.
"Chinese companies have not provided military products to Libya in any direct or indirect form," Jiang told reporters at a regular briefing.
Although there was no indication that the government played a role in the contacts, the fact that the meetings were held could deliver a further blow to Beijing's ties with Libya's rebels while reinforcing the belief that China may have been trying to play both sides of the conflict.
China never endorsed the U.N. resolution authorizing force against the Gadhafi regime and has yet to formally recognize the opposition National Transitional Council. Although Beijing belatedly opened up contacts with the rebels, it hosted Gadhafi's foreign minister in Beijing at the same time.
China and Russia had earlier questioned whether the supplying of weapons to rebels breached the terms of the U.N. ban. The head of the transitional council has in recent days accused Beijing of holding up the release of frozen Libyan funds held overseas, allegedly in order to first guarantee the safety of billions of dollars in Chinese investments in Libya.
While the NTC has said it will honor contracts made with Gadhafi's government, its officials have indicated they regard China as being in a separate category from the transitional government's strong backers such as France, Britain and the United States.
Asked whether China was obstructing the release of Libyan funds, Jiang said China had no problem in principle with turning them over, but wanted first to ensure there was adequate supervision of their use.
While Gadhafi obtained weapons from a number of sources, China has built a strong position as provider of small arms to many African nations, including those suffering internal conflict such as Sudan and Zimbabwe. China also sold weapons to both sides in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, apparently with no damage to its relations with their leaders.
The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported last week that Gadhafi's officials negotiated to buy weapons and ammunition from Chinese arms makers China North Industries Corp., China Precision Machinery Import and Export Co., and China Xinxing Import and Export Co. It based the report on discarded Libyan government documents that opposition sources believe are authentic.
Representatives of the Chinese companies either could not be contacted or said no spokesman was available to speak with the media.
Li Weijian, a scholar with Shanghai's Institute of Foreign Studies, said such contacts likely took place without government authorization, adding that Beijing was confident of establishing good relations with the new Libyan government.
"I don't think the relations of the two countries will be affected by the incident and both sides should look to the future," Li said.
(This version CORRECTS name of Chinese company in paragraph 10 to China North instead of China Northern)
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