China is against energy sanctions on Iran and instead favors “engaging” the Islamic Republic through negotiations despite U.S. President Barack Obama’s optimistic handshake with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two leaders met at the American-sponsored Nuclear Summit in Washington on Monday.
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Obama administration officials tried to present the meeting between the two presidents as a sign that “the Chinese very clearly share our concern about the Iranian nuclear program," said Jeff Bader, Obama's senior director for Asia on the National Security Council. However, the lack of public agreement on specifics is the tip of the iceberg of deep dissensions concerning Iran’s nuclear program.
Their discussions represented a warming of relations between the two countries and gave President Obama the opportunity to reiterate his expressed desire for tough sanctions aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining the capability to produce a nuclear weapon.
However, China’s ostensible cooperation for United Nations Security Council discussions on Iran may be a ploy to make sure that sanctions will be weak.
“The real question is whether they will ever accept any sanctions with real teeth, and my assumption is no,” according to Dan Blumenthal, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington,” who was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Diplomats have said that China has made it clear it is against a ban on new energy investments in Iran, which lacks oil refining facilities and is dependent on foreign countries for refined petroleum.
President Obama’s draft for sanctions does not include a call for limits on shipments of oil and gas to Iran, falling far short of expectations of those who consider that time almost has run out to stop Iran from developing a nuclear warhead.
Even if sanctions were to ban new energy investments on Iran, they would not affect the Bushehr nuclear reactor that Russia is building. Moscow’s vested interest in Iran’s nuclear facilities is another dark shadow on President Obama’s optimism.
"If we speak about energy sanctions, I'll give you my opinion. I think that we are unlikely to achieve a consolidated position in the world community on this issue," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on ABC television. "If half the countries are going to support sanctions and half are not, it's clear that the effectiveness of these sanctions will be zero," Medvedev said.