BEIJING--China said it would move an undisclosed number of its
more than 10,000 citizens in Iraq away from danger zones amid an
intensifying insurgency there and urged Baghdad to protect its
people and interests.
At a daily press briefing on Thursday, China Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said those in dangerous areas could be
moved to either safer places in Iraq or neighboring countries. Ms.
Hua said most Chinese nationals in the country are in relatively
safe areas already.
"China is willing to continue to provide assistance to Iraq at
the request of the Iraqi side in antiterrorism and reconstruction
works," she said. "We also hope that Iraqi side could take concrete
measures to ensure security of Chinese institutions and
personnel."
China's presence in Iraq has grown in recent years as the Middle
Eastern country has become a growing source of its imported oil.
Imports from Iraq rose roughly 50% in 2013, ranking the country
behind Russia as China's fifth-largest source of foreign crude.
State-controlled China National Petroleum Corp. operates the
Halfaya oil field in eastern Iraq. In November, another
state-controlled oil company, PetroChina Co., agreed to purchase a
25% stake in the West Qurna-1 oil project in southern Iraq from
Exxon Mobil Corp.
Iraq is battling a group of Sunni Muslim militants called the
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, which has taken a number of
Iraqi cities and has been fighting for control of a major oil
refinery there.
Ms. Hua said Chinese embassies in Iraq and nearby countries are
working with local authorities to remove the Chinese nationals. She
didn't give any detail on whether China would send military experts
to assist the Iraqi government but said China will provide
assistance as its capacity allows.
Grace Zhu
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