ARTICLE: "Energy Prices Put China In a Jam: Inflation Limits Options on Controls," by Andrew Batson, Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2007, p. D8.

Much of the current high prices in energy are rising demand-driven, but clearly any security issues put a short-term premium on price, so no, China takes no delight in U.S. failures in Iraq, nor would it relish military strikes against Iran.

So long as energy prices rise, you got a key inflation driver fueling Beijing's fears of civil unrest.

China desperately needs a Middle East that's opening up to globalization and especially its FDI flows, because those flows will determine the region's future ability to meet China's skyrocketing energy demands, with Iran as an obviously key player.