China Wants the Best of Both Worlds on Iran

China and Iran recently marked 40 years to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Iran and Beijing.

China does not intend to treat Iran and its president Ahmadinejad as a pariah. On the contrary, the Iranian president was given the floor at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization last week where he urged the organization to create a new world order to replace the Western enslavers and colonizers. Iran will have to make do with its observer status in that organization, but the same applies to India.

Last week Chinese President Hu Jin Tao and Ahmadinejad met and the Chinese president claimed that the strong relationship between China and Iran helps promote world peace and "is conducive to improving peace and stability in the region and the world". In other words, China's way to solve the Iranian nuclear crisis is "through dialogue and negotiation" and therefore it is opposed to increased sanctions on Iran.

Trade between the two countries grew last year by 36% - part of it explained by the rise in the price of petroleum but also by the increased volume of trade. Last month the Chinese Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Beijing telling his hosts that they were welcome to visit Iran's nuclear sites to verify for themselves Iran's peaceful intentions.

He also, more importantly, made sure to remind the Chinese that his country was a secure source of energy supplies for China's energy intensive industrialization.

The Chinese make a point of asking Iran to return to the negotiating table and clarify the directions of Tehran's nuclear program so the proper distinction can be made between Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation.

However, since China has ruled out military action and more stringent sanctions, there is no pressure for Iran to negotiate in good faith.

China, and to a certain extent Russia, now occupies the spot formerly occupied by the EU during the period that Western Europe advocated "critical dialogue" with Iran. This dialogue permitted extensive trade with Iran while the word "critical" presumably placed the Europeans on the side of the angels. It also allowed Iran to proceed with its nuclear weapons program.

The Chinese satisfy the Iranians by appearing as the guards preventing more serious sanctions while vis-à-vis the United States and Europe this blocking position can be used as a negotiating card for other issues.

Source: IsraelNationalNews.com