China's statement on the car bombing of its troops in Mali is puzzling.

via China Defense Blog.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the incident was a terrorist attack aimed at UN peacekeepers, and demanded an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“It is a grave and intolerable crime. China strongly condemns it,” Hua said.

To this I say, welcome to the Middle East China.  You won't like your stay, you will suffer more casualties and you will not be able to solve it.  I find the statement puzzling.  Surely they know that this is par for the course in this region.  But if you think that's something, check out this part.

Shanghai-based military ­expert Ni Lexiong said despite the risk China needed to be involved in UN peacekeeping missions as a “responsible power”, to facilitate its economic expansion, and to improve the military’s capacity. “The only way to avoid casualties is not to send peacekeepers, but that would be a bigger loss,” Ni said.
Gunman killed in attack on Mali hotel hosting EU military training mission
Defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the military was “shocked by the terrorist attack” but China would continue to ­support United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Could we actually get this lucky?  Could we slip out the backdoor and leave the Chinese to do the bleeding in the region?  Obviously they have their own version of "Neo-Cons" in their establishment which means that they will be hip deep in the quagmire known as the Middle East before they know it.

I thought the Chinese were smarter, but if they want to play then awesome. If we can encourage their participation in this misadventure then maybe we can rest, recuperate and rebuild while they waste lives and treasure.