Beijing warns US against Iraq attack

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
Senior China Analyst

(CNN) -- Beijing has sent subtle warnings to the United States and its allies not to attack Iraq after their success in dismantling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

In articles and commentaries believed to reflect the leadership's thinking, the official media have warned against the danger of Washington and its allies entering into "the second phase" of its anti-terrorist campaign, which might include an attack on Iraq.

In a commentary on Wednesday, the website of the official Xinhua news agency said "hawkish elements" in Washington were putting pressure on the White House to "kick out Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by using the same military tactics against the Taliban."

The article, written by staff correspondent Zhi Linfei, identified the hawks as hardline elements in the Department of Defense, which, it said, was studying elaborate plans for airstrikes against Iraq.

The article added, however, that the majority of U.S. officials were adopting a "cautious stance" in Iraq, fearing that military action against the Saddam Hussein regime could split the anti-terrorist alliance that Washington had painstakingly built up.

Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said in internal meetings, Chinese leaders had indicated they might modify their policy of acquiescence toward the U.S.-led anti-terrorist campaign should the military action spill over to Iraq.

Moscow ties

Meanwhile, Beijing is working with Russia and other countries to prevent the U.S. from establishing a pro-American regime in Kabul.

After a telephone conversation earlier this week between Presidents Jiang Zemin and Vladimir Putin, Beijing announced that the two countries would hold a vice-ministerial level meeting later this month on cooperation on fighting terrorism.

A Chinese diplomatic source said Beijing hoped Moscow would use its close ties with the North Alliance to ensure the U.S. would not dominate the formation of a new government in Afghanistan.

Beijing is also anxious to revive the mechanism of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to ensure that Washington will not be able to take advantage of the anti-terrorist exercise to expand its foothold in Central Asia.

A key goal of the SCO, which incorporates China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, is to fight terrorism and religious extremism within these countries.