Beijing: As Libyan rebels on Monday captured
Tripoli, heralding the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime,
China came out in full support of opposition forces saying it
"respected the choice of" the Libyan people.
China respects the choices of the people of Libya after
the rebel forces in the war-torn announced they had taken
control of the capital Tripoli, China`s official news agency
Xinhua quoted Foreign Ministry statement as saying.
"We have noticed recent changes in the Libyan situation
and we respect the Libyan people`s choice," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said responding to a question on the civil
war in Libya.
"(We) hope that the Libyan situation will stabilise at an
early date so that people there can live a normal life," Ma
said adding that "China is ready to cooperate with the
international community to play a proactive role in the
reconstruction of Libya in the future".
China, a veto wielding member of UNSC, which had abstained
from voting on the resolution to impose no fly zone over
Libya, had established contacts with the rebels in Benghazi
recently.
It also hosted the delegations of both Gaddafi and rebels
here.
The Libyan crisis affected China as it had to pull out
over 35,000 workers employed in various projects in Libya in a
short time while a number of its companies suffered losses due
to cancellations of their projects in view of the civil war.
Today China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the
country`s largest oil and gas producer, terminated six
exploration projects in Libya and Niger amid ongoing political
turbulence in the Middle East and North Africa, the Securities
Daily said.
The termination of the six projects run by Great Wall
Drilling Co (GWDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNPC, is
estimated to cause 1.2 billion yuan (USD 187.51 million) in
losses for the company, higher than losses incurred during the
2009 financial crisis, said the report.
"For CNPC, the current priority should be avoiding massive
losses. It should elevate its risk evaluation and management
to strengthen the assessment of overseas projects," Ren
Haoning, an analyst with the China Investment Consulting Corp
(CICC), said in the report.
A lack of experience and regulation as well as errors in
judgement are the main causes for losses in the country`s
three largest oil companies during recent and rapid overseas
expansions, Zhou Xiujie, also a CICC analyst, said, according
to Xinhua.
PTI
