China works with Bolivia to replace shoulder fired missiles

Washington Times:

China's communist leaders are advising the new leftist government in Bolivia to avoid upsetting the United States, but at the same time have offered to replace shoulder-fired missiles that a CIA-led operation removed from the South American country last year, U.S. intelligence officials said.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, during a recent visit to China, was told he should avoid actions that could lead to U.S. intervention and perhaps the ouster of his government, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.
The Chinese fear the United States will orchestrate a coup against Mr. Morales using sympathetic officers within the Bolivian military.
A Bush administration official said China told Mr. Morales, "You have to be nice to the United States," and the advice is part of Beijing's long-term strategy to undermine U.S. influence in the region and other parts of the world.
Before Mr. Morales' election in December, the CIA led an operation that secretly took 38 Chinese-made HN-5 surface-to-air missiles. The agency was helped by Bolivian security officials concerned that the weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists linked to the new ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS), Mr. Morales' party.
The official said a Chinese missile replacement "would be a very provocative act."

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China's conduct does not bother me as much as Bolivia's. The Bolivians do not need the shoulder fired weapons and if they got them, there is no reason to believe they would keep them out of the hands of terrorist. Bolivia's recent friendship with crackposts like Chavez and Castro show its leadership lacks judgment and could ally itself with enemies of the US.