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 ...At the beginning of last week, Chinese papers heaped criticism and derision on Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his political patron and Iran's top leader, for their alleged victory with an astounding 71% of the total vote. The papers got a free hand on that because even China's top decision-makers thought Ahmadinejad had gone too far. Yet, within a few days, it was also clear that the official results would not be turned down. Khamenei ordered a recount of some of the vote, which confirmed the original numbers. .. And after all, now as in the times of The Empire of Silver, the status quo is also Beijing's political mantra. ...If Iran spirals into a new revolution or a civil war, .. China would be in a state of alarm. Its Muslim region of Xinjiang, with an uneasy, pro-independence Uighur minority (a Turkic-speaking people), could be inspired to spark anew their protests. In any event, the whole region could soon be in flames. Oil prices could then spike again, as chaos in Iran threatens the security of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula....Against this background, China, in a June 18 editorial in the official English-language China >>>