Bush 'disturbed' by Chinese aid to Iraq

US President George W. Bush said he is disturbed that China is helping Iraq build a more sophisticated and effective defence against American and British air patrols.

‘It’s troubling that they be involved in helping Iraq develop a system that will endanger our pilots,’’ Bush told a White House news conference yesterday.

Bush was responding to reports that last week’s US-British airstrikes in the Baghdad area were prompted by indications that Chinese civilian and military workers have been helping lay fibre-optic cables to improve the durability of Iraq’s air defence network.

‘‘We’re concerned about the Chinese presence in Iraq,’’ Bush said, and the administration is ‘‘sending the appropriate response’’ to Beijing.

Bush expressed satisfaction with the effectiveness of last week’s airstrikes, which targeted more than 20 Iraqi air defence radars and command-and-control facilities linked to air defences.

Pentagon officials said yesterday that less than half the targeted radars were damaged.

‘We had two missions,’’ Bush said. ‘‘One was to send a clear message to Saddam. The other was to degrade the capacity of Saddam to injure our pilots. I believe we succeeded in both those missions.’’

US and British pilots have been monitoring Iraq’s airspace since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War, fought to drive Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s occupying troops out of Kuwait.

Administration officials believe that China’s role in assisting Iraq to strengthen its air defences is a violation of UN Security Council sanctions placed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of the neighbouring emirate.

In remarks to reporters after Bush’s news conference, national security adviser Condoleeza Rice was less pointed. ‘‘I want to make clear that we are not accusing, at this point, the Chinese of anything,’’ she said.

‘‘But we are telling them that we have tremendous concerns about what’s going on.’’

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, she said, China has ‘‘special responsibilities’’ to help ensure that the UN sanctions are enforced.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell raised the issue with China’s new ambassador, Yang Jiechi.