Since nobody else seems willing to stick up for them;
A North African offshoot of al-Qaeda has China in its crosshairs because of its treatment of Muslim rioters in Urumqi last week.
A group called al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQM) is threatening attacks on the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria, according to a report prepared by international risk consultants Sterling Assynt and revealed in the South China Morning Post Tuesday.
The Chinese government is taking its first threat from Osama bin Laden’s deadly network seriously. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters: “We will keep a close eye on developments and make joint efforts with relevant countries to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of overseas Chinese institutions and people.”
Via Andrew Keyes, (who's waiting for a reaction from the left that will never come).
IS it just me, or is the whole world mad that Bush and Cheney were secretly trying to kill Osama bin Laden, and thank God that Obama -n- Biden have come along to protect his rights?
Posted by: tim in vermont at July 15, 2009 8:55 AMWhile AQM can undoubtedly harm or kill Chinese in the Maghreb with relative impunity, they should understand that with China they are not dealing with a liberal democracy that tiptoes around, they are dealing with HARD people who ruthlessly act to protect their self-interest. It should be interesting.
Posted by: Mystery Meat at July 15, 2009 9:01 AMYes, they will quickly come to know that the Chinese are in the Major Leagues of ruthlessness. There will be no parlaimentary or Congressional debate as to how the Chinese will kill every last al-qaeda member or anyone that looks like them. It will just happen. And after it happens, there will be no Chinese version of Nancy Pelosi calling for the impeachment of everyone involved. There will be no Chinese version of Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews, or the NY Times providing a blow by blow account of the atrosities. Yes, al-qaeda will be given a lesson in unrestricted warfare.
Posted by: Syd B. at July 15, 2009 9:21 AMThis will be interesting. My guess that the Chinese will respond with such delicious Oriental cruelty that Mohammad will shake in his grave.
Posted by: Shawn at July 15, 2009 9:29 AM...take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of overseas Chinese institutions and people.
My guess that the Chinese will respond with such delicious Oriental cruelty that Mohammad will shake in his grave.
I don't recall PRC doing either of the above with any vigour in recent history. I doubt that we'll see Chinese troops fighting in Algeria, to protect expatriot workers.
Posted by: glasnost at July 15, 2009 11:07 AMOf course it's all Bush's fault.
Posted by: Jason at July 15, 2009 11:14 AMI'm not sure how the Chinese government will deal with this, but I can tell you how typical Chinese foreign workers will handle it. They'll keep their noses to the grindstone, they'll mind their own business, and they'll suffer persecution as they always have. They have a long history of patient determination, and it would be a terrible crime to allow fanatics to take advantage of that.
I think the oil producing tyrants will protect the Chinese workers. They need their reliable labour, and they don't want to jeopardize all the Chinese investment.
Posted by: dp at July 15, 2009 11:23 AMDespite my utter disdain for the government of PRC, I have long anticipated the collision between AQ and PRC.
PRC will not take any half measures with AQ. No nagging MSM to appease can be liberating, indeed.
Posted by: Shaken at July 15, 2009 11:26 AMChinese manufactured weapons turning up in Afghanistan? Perhaps this is a perfect opportunity to recruit a volunteer for a nice arms length proxy war?
Posted by: Kevin Lafayette at July 15, 2009 11:28 AMJason, maybe former Saskatchewan Premier Grant Devine is also to blame.
Posted by: Ken at July 15, 2009 12:20 PMJust another in a growing list of problems hitting the SinoCommies lately.
The Chinese Communist Party's collapse is imminent.
Posted by: Canadian Sentinel at July 15, 2009 12:39 PMThing to remember, the PRC are COMMUNISTS. They will march a million soldiers in someplace, half of whom will die of starvation, the other half will desert, and the Al Qaeda weenies will dance around all happy and victorious until a Western country decides to stomp on them once and for all.
Just think Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Communists are great at killing people who can't shoot back. Not so great with the return fire.
Posted by: The Phantom at July 15, 2009 12:39 PMCommies against Islamist fascists, hard to pick a side in that scrap.
Posted by: Buffalo Irving at July 15, 2009 12:47 PMCommunists are great at killing people who can't shoot back. Not so great with the return fire.
Posted by: The Phantom at July 15, 2009 12:39 PM
You're kidding, right?
How about Stalingrad? Hanoi? Havana?
Don't underestimate your enemy. Just ask Westmoreland.
Posted by: dp at July 15, 2009 1:00 PMRe: Commies against Islamist fascists, hard to pick a side in that scrap.
As it used to read in part on the header of this blog "Pray for an asteroid" ?? ; )
Posted by: Noel at July 15, 2009 1:03 PMdp
**How about Stalingrad? Hanoi? Havana?
Don't underestimate your enemy. Just ask Westmoreland.**
Westmoreland would tell you not to confuse patriotism with communism.....the comminosts don't but activity exploit patriotism anyhoo.
The AQM will influence PRC policy....no prisoners...
This is a fairly baseless threat! I worked in Algeria for several years, and there were “very few” Chinese to be found. Their presence may have increased in the last several years, but regardless ALL foreigners working there are under the threat of death every day. That is why the Algerian government issues very few working visas, and tourism is all but nonexistent. There are strict government regulations for travel by foreigners in Algeria outside of “green zones” without police/ military escort due to the high levels of kidnapping and the inevitable beheading.
The favorite soft targets of this flavor of Islamist Jihadists are the so called “moderate” Muslims especially University students. (Their friends, neighbors & relatives to all those lefty’s that think they can appease and befriend Islam).
Just sayin…………This threat is nothing earth shattering to the Chinese working there to be sure.
What the hell are 50,000 Chinese workers doing in Algeria?
The country's unemployment rate is 13%
Posted by: Mr.g at July 15, 2009 3:45 PMimagine the chinese actually know what has to be done about islamic jihad.
Posted by: old white guy at July 15, 2009 5:07 PMsyd b. yep.
Posted by: old white guy at July 15, 2009 5:09 PMmr g. numbers mean nothing, duh.
Posted by: old white guy at July 15, 2009 5:31 PMPosted by: Mr.g>
What the hell are 50,000 Chinese workers doing in Algeria?
The country's unemployment rate is 13%
You would need to see firsthand what the productivity level of the working 87% is to understand!!!
If you did, you would never encourage Algerian immigration to Canada. Otherwise ask the French how it’s working out for them. Happy car-b-que day.
"What the hell are 50,000 Chinese workers doing in Algeria?
The country's unemployment rate is 13%"
It seems to be a cultural thing, in some Arab cultures, that work is what slaves do. It is actually demeaning to have a job.
Posted by: Kevin Lafayette at July 15, 2009 6:38 PMWow, you mean if I convert to Islam, I get to consider "work" something that only slaves do? Cooolll....
BTW weren't the Ancient Greeks also of that mind? So Islam didn't even invent their inherent laziness and indigence. Sad.
Posted by: cnr at July 15, 2009 6:58 PMGeez. The Free World appeases both the Muslims and the Communists, who don't appease the Muslims.
Maybe the Muslims are still mad at us, despite our appeasement, because we appease the Communists who don't appease them?
Maybe we shouldn't appease either. Those folks are so pissed at one another that maybe we should just say, "screw 'em and let 'em fight one another"... and then they'll both leave us alone?
Well, we can wish, can't we?
Posted by: Canadian Sentinel at July 15, 2009 8:06 PM"What the hell are 50,000 Chinese workers doing in Algeria?"
Running the place?
Pray for an asteroid.
Posted by: The Phantom at July 15, 2009 8:43 PMI fully expect the Chinese to exterminate this enemy, unlike our Western liberal government bureaucracies, that will hug them to death,
The West, Anglosphere, Russia and China should come together on the one single most important item of international business of the moment: islamic totalitarianism.
Posted by: RW at July 15, 2009 8:52 PMHow about Stalingrad? Hanoi? Havana?..
Don't underestimate your enemy. Just ask Westmoreland.
Posted by: dp at July 15, 2009 1:00 PM....
Westmorland... an incompetent political tool who willingly allowed thousands of US troops to die while sucking up to incompetent Washington politicans.
Moral of the story? Know your enemy AND DON'T LISTEN TO FOOLS.
Stalingrad :Ummm ... Germans out of supplies ... on Russian Turf.
Resulting consequences post conflict ... extermination of millions of civillians at the hands of commies and their spawn
Hanoi: US military stopped fighting at the command of shitwit politicians back home 5 years prior. Commies killed more civillians than soldiers.
Consequences post conflict ... commies killed millions of civillians with NO retribution.
Havana: Batista's dropped their guns long before any Castroists showed up. Commies killed more civillians than they did soldiers.
Consequences post conflict ... commies killed hundreds of thousands of civillians.
Moral of the story .... commies when left to their own devices and in the absense of any real opposition ALWAYS do the majority of their killing.
Also refer to Tibet..... Myanmar ... Thailand .... Zimbabwe .... Nigeria ....CHINA .... Chile ... and so on....
Posted by: OMMAG at July 15, 2009 9:11 PMOh yeah ... almost forgot.
The Chines will do nothing against AQ outside of their own domain. Inside their domain they will use the AQ threat as an excuse to murder thousands of civilians who have NOTHING to do with AQ.
They will probably exterminate a few AQ rats in the process ... but true to form .... because HISTORY teaches us... the commies will kill mostly, hapless civilians.
Posted by: OMMAG at July 15, 2009 9:16 PMdp, I'm willing to be proven wrong, but I doubt the Chicom government is any more able today than the Soviet government was in Afghanistan. They look big and strong, but they are rotten in the middle.
One good storm, baby.
Posted by: The Phantom at July 15, 2009 9:24 PMA silver lining in all this is that the 16 uighars that are in Gitmo with no place to go will not become the next media darlings in Canada. Something along the lines of 'we want sweet Omar back so we may as well accept his equally innocent and sweet buddies'. I was fully expecting the leftoids to mount a campaign to allow the murderous PR's into Canada on compassionate grounds and to show the world how tolerant we can be. Now it ain't bloody likely.
Posted by: wallyj at July 15, 2009 9:42 PMThe Chinese government is taking its first threat from Osama bin Laden’s deadly network seriously.
He just signed his death warrent. The Chinese unlike us don't let the niceties of international law stop them. Being tyrrants themselves, they will go after him with a ruthless intensity. Osama the Jihadist killer, made a bad foe.There is a reason the Chines have a 5000 year old civilization.
JMO
Wow, its like watching Ignatieff and Layton argue in parliment. Who do you cheer for?
Posted by: Junker at July 16, 2009 10:16 AM"There is a reason the Chines have a 5000 year old civilization"
The 5000 year old civilization was destroyed completely by Mao before the end of the 1960's.
The 60 year old uncivilization ruled by the Stalinists of the Chinese Army don't even know what is going on.
The PRC will do nothing of any consequence to AQ.
They will instead kill many of their own citizens without any compunction.
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