On the evening of Feb. 16, 2004 a Chinese diplomatic mission, escorted by well armed Chinese special police, arrived at the Al-Mansour Melia Hotel in Baghdad. They had arrived at the provisional seat of the Chinese Embassy in Iraq. Their task was to make the necessary preparations for the reopening of a permanent embassy in Iraq. The unstable situation in Iraq means that the safety of those diplomats, special police and other staff continues to be a constant source of concern for the people back home.

Alert the whole journey

Xi Shuanzhu is responsible for the security of the Chinese Embassy in Iraq. Although five months have now past since his detachment of special police escorted the diplomats from Beijing to Baghdad, the memory of the journey is still fresh in Xi's mind.
 
"Before setting off we had drawn up a detailed security plan in conjunction with the diplomats we were to escort," recalled Xi. "This included the deployment of the vehicles, the allocation of responsibilities among members of the escort, contingency planning to ensure an instant reaction in the event of any emergency, special precautions to be taken when stopping and refueling the vehicles, and a close personal escort for the ambassador together with all the necessary preparations so that an immediate armed response was ready at all times should this be necessary. We had only three hours of rest breaks on the whole 24-hour journey. So in order to stay fully alert we worked a rota with the guards being changed every half hour."

Gunshots and explosions in Baghdad

There is something like one gun in circulation for every three people in Iraq, a formidable rate for the possession of firearms by any standards.

"Hearing the sound of gunshots and explosions is a common occurrence for people living in Baghdad," said Xi.

One such explosion occurred on March 8 this year some 500 meters south of the Al-Mansour Melia Hotel. This was the date on which the Coalition Provisional Authority ratified the provisional constitution. All the diplomats and their special police guards were in the hotel when the explosion went off. Xi grabbed a powerful telescope and checked out the scene from the hotel balcony. With the benefit of twelve times magnification he saw the US army had already got to the scene to cordon off the area and there were helicopters overhead.

On the afternoon of March 10, armed motorcyclists fired at police on a bridge over the Tigris River.

At five to one in the morning of March 11, thieves came to visit the Al-Mansour Melia Hotel. The security personnel on guard opened fire and drove them away.

"Our personnel at the hotel often clearly hear the sounds of gunfire. This may be a common enough occurrence in Baghdad but we still get edgy very quickly when the shots start to ring out. Even when answering the phone you can sometimes hear shots at the other end of the line.

Safety is the biggest concern in Baghdad today. One international organization recently assessed the city as one of the world's most unsuitable places to live. Coming as they do on top of infrastructure destruction and environmental pollution it's not surprising that security concerns make people view this war damaged city as anything but a fit place in which to live just now. Under such extraordinary circumstances, ordinary daily activities and schedules, which would not be a matter of concern in any peaceful country, demand extra attention for they must be carefully kept secret in Baghdad.

"In comparison, our own country is such a very happy place to live in," said Xi.

What no noodles!

"The CCTV international channel brightens up our lives with news of home. But apart from this one channel there are few programs that we can understand, because they are mostly in Arabic," Xi said with some regret.

"But food is an even bigger problem than the TV. Beef and mutton are the staple meats of the Arab countries and the vegetables are unimaginative in the extreme, mostly just cucumbers and potatoes. And the worst thing for the special police who come from the north of China is that there are just no noodles in Iraq. It's summer in Iraq now, the worst season with daily temperatures soaring above 40 Centigrade and it is affecting our appetites," he said.

"However we are now well acclimatized," said Xi, "and somebody recently brought us noodles over from Jordan. I cook some each evening and they really are delicious."

The local people are kind to the Chinese

Safety considerations mean that all security personnel are under strict instructions not to venture out of the embassy on their own. As a result they have only very limited contact with Iraqi civilians.

Xi said, "There are fewer than fifty Chinese people in Iraq. They are diplomats and other embassy staff, reporters with the Xinhua News Agency, a few employees of Chinese companies and individual businessmen. Although we Chinese are few in number here, the local people are friendly to us. To show our nationality, we always wear the emblem of the Chinese national flag and the first thing we learned to say in Arabic was that we are Chinese. Sometimes when we say this the local people respond by giving the thumbs-up sign. This is a clear benefit of our diplomatic policies and the friendly good manners Chinese people have always shown here. Although Arabic is a difficult language for us, we have managed to grasp some everyday expressions, which is helpful in communicating with the local people."

Families back home who worry every day

Xi's tone was lower when he spoke of family matters, "Since we are working far away from home in a country in turmoil we do miss our families very much. However the telephone helps bring us closer. All security personnel can call their families at least twice a month. Afraid he might miss even one of these precious calls, the father of Li Yaguang, the deputy leader of the security team, has bought a new phone with a voice recording feature. Every time I call home my 10-year-old daughter Qianqian asks me to be careful. All our relatives are proud of us and this is the best encouragement we could have."

According to Xi Shuanzhu, when he told his family that he would have to go to Baghdad neither his wife Liu Jinping nor his daughter took him seriously at first. But there was a chilling silence when they realized that this was for real. For Liu, the only impressions that present day Iraq could conjure up were those of explosions and violent death.

Before he left for Iraq, Xi checked all the water faucets in the house and bought a new water dispenser. He also bought a computer, an electronic organ and a table for his daughter.

His wife said, "Xi was born into a rural family so he's very frugal. He always said children didn't need lots of material things in order to study. But before he left he bought his daughter everything he knew she wanted.”

In the first four days after they arrived in Jordan, Xi wasn't able to contact his family back home. His wife was so worried that she just couldn't help crying but she knew she had to hide this from their daughter. When he did manage to get a call through it put her mind at ease for a while. As well as his wife and daughter, Xi needs to call his mother in Henan Province. If his call is delayed a few days she will be sure to worry and break down in tears.

(Beijing Morning Post, translated by Zhang Tingting and Chen Lin for china.org.cn, July 16, 2004)