Some other folks have already highlighted this, but seven Chinese citizens were abducted yesterday during an attack on a Chinese-run oil facility in eastern Ethiopia.

Chinese oil companies are increasingly vulnerable to attacks and other political violence as they aggressively expand their operations in some of Africa’s most sensitive hot spots, international observers said yesterday.

The warnings came after gunmen attacked a Chinese-run oil field operation in eastern Ethiopia yesterday, killing more than 60 Ethiopian workers and nine Chinese managers. Seven Chinese were believe to have been abducted during the attack, according to the country’s official news agency.

Elizabeth Economy, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said it is unlikely the oil field was targeted because of its Chinese connection, but rather, the Chinese found themselves caught in a regional conflict.

“No matter what China says in its diplomatic forays about China’s presence being different, it is going to encounter the same challenges that every other oil company and country faces when it goes into disputed areas in challenging parts of Africa,” Ms. Economy said.

Stratfor argues that China’s surge of activity in Africa has stripped away its previous immunity to accusations of imperialism. The resource rewards and political capitol of engaging Africa are key to China’s continued rise towards great power status. Such engagement, however, risks draining Chinese resources and suffering attacks against its facilities.

Wenran Jiang, director of the University of Alberta’s China Institute, said Chinese companies are only now coming to grips with the political risks that are associated with doing business in violence-prone countries.

“The Chinese leaders are becoming more and more aware of the severe situation in these unstable countries where they have put in quite a bit of investment,” Mr. Wenran said.

These sorts of events will force China to confront the same SysAdmin challenges that other globalizing nations face. Simply by virtue of their power and association with spreading connectivity, China’s overseas face becomes a target. This threat environment will drive increased Chinese investment in what Barnett refers to as SysAdmin capabilities. This will also drag China into regional conflicts, which will accelerate the convergence between its problem set and that of American foreign policy.

On a completely different note, Brave New War next on my reading list, just like everyone else. This, incidentally, is a great example of a blog herding behavior that I’ve noticed before. Past examples include Muckian’s article on networked insurgencies, or McFate and Packer’s articles on COIN and anthropology. During a stampede, the book or article in question is thoroughly dissected and used to interpret current events until the pack exhausts itself.