This morning Reuters reported that Iraqi insurgents who threatened to kill eight Chinese hostages told the Chinese government they would treat the hostages "mercifully" if China banned its nationals from entering Iraq.
"We ask your government to issue a statement forbidding Chinese citizens from entering Iraq and this will be considered as a positive gesture and will make us look mercifully on the detainees," the insurgents said in a video obtained by Reuters.
This evening Agence France-Presse reports a Chinese foreign ministry official, responding to the insurgents demand, told Al-Jazeera television that Beijing had repeatedly warned its citizens against going to Iraq and that the eight men had been abducted while on their way out.
I'm surprised that the Chinese would cave in to the insurgents' demands like Spain and the Philippines. I thought the Chinese were tougher than that.
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