China to discuss Iran sanctions; Hu to visit US

[Lankan Ranger]

China to discuss Iran sanctions; Hu to visit US

China has agreed to serious negotiations with Western powers about imposing new sanctions on Iran and President Hu Jintao will attend a multi-nation summit on nuclear security in Washington this month, officials said.

The two moves should dilute tensions between Beijing and Washington after months of quarrels over the yuan currency, Internet censorship, Tibet and US weapons sales to Taiwan.

The agreement to discuss sanctions marked a significant shift by China after months of fending off Western nations' demands for concerted pressure on Tehran, which they accuse of seeking the means to assemble nuclear weapons.

Beijing has also previously been coy about whether Hu will attend the April 12-13 nuclear summit in Washington, which would come just days before the US Treasury is slated to release a report that could officially accuse China of keeping its currency artificially low to give its exporters a competitive advantage.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference on Thursday that Hu would attend the Washington meeting. "China strongly values the nuclear security issue and opposes nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism," said Qin.

The United States' ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said on Wednesday in New York that her government, Britain, France, Russia and Germany had agreed with China to begin discussing a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution with new sanctions on Iran.

"This is progress, but the negotiations have yet to begin in earnest," Rice said in an interview on CNN.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin would not discuss specifics of a resolution and stressed China's continued hopes for diplomatic compromise over Iran.

"China is highly concerned about the current situation and will strenghten cooperation with all parties," he said.

Reluctant

China has long been reluctant to back new sanctions on Iran, a big supplier of oil for the growing Asian power.

Underscoring Beijing's centrality in the accelerating negotiations, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili arrived there on Thursday.

Jalili would meet Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Dai Bingguo, a senior Chinese diplomat who serves as a State Councillor advising leaders on foreign policy, said Qin.

"Sanctions now appear to be a foregone conclusion. The likelihood of the resolution passing in the Security Council is high," said Jin Liangxiang, a Middle East specialist at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

As one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, China has the power to veto any resolution. But Beijing appears to be losing some patience with Iran.

Jin said the sanctions were likely to "hit decision-makers and interests in Iran", but not seriously affect China's economies and energy ties.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he wants a new Iran sanctions resolution adopted within weeks.

The Western powers in the "P5+1" group -- the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany -- hope to hold a meeting of envoys of the six powers in coming days to start drafting a resolution, diplomats told Reuters.

They said the basis for negotiations will be a US proposal agreed with its European allies and passed on to Russia and China a month ago.

Guo Xiangang, a former Chinese diplomat to Tehran, said Beijing was likely to bow only so far to the Western demands for tough sanctions.

"I'd guess that China can accept something a bit harsher (than past sanctions on Iran), but not too harsh. It will remain principally a symbolic warning to Iran," said Guo, who is now a vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, a government thinktank in Beijing.

He said Beijing would seek to ensure that any financial sanctions did not threaten to entangle its energy and investment deals with Iran.

China to discuss Iran sanctions; Hu to visit US- Hindustan Times

 

[gpit]

China Won't Confirm It's Ready for Iran Sanctions

By CARA ANNA Associated Press Writer

BEIJING April 1, 2010 (AP)



China on Thursday would not confirm U.S. reports that it had dropped its opposition to possible new U.N. sanctions against Iran, as Tehran's top nuclear negotiator met with senior officials in Beijing.

China has veto power in the U.N. Security Council, and changing its position on sanctions would be key to passing a resolution against Iran, which is suspected of developing nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful power generation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang would not confirm reports that China was willing to consider new sanctions, saying only that it was "concerned about the current situation."

"We will strengthen communication with other parties and engage all parties to promote a proper resolution by diplomatic means," he said at a regularly scheduled briefing, repeating Beijing's longtime stance of opposing sanctions.

The Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, met with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Thursday. "Your visit this time is very important. We attach great importance to China's relations with Iran," Yang told Jalili before their formal meeting.

Just after arriving in Beijing, Jalili told reporters, "The relationship between Iran and China is very important, and it is very important for our two countries to cooperate on all the issues."

China depends on oil- and gas-rich Iran for 11 percent of its energy needs and last year became Tehran's biggest trading partner, according to Iranian figures.

China traditionally opposes sanctions. Although it went along with three earlier U.N. sanctions resolutions against Iran, it has been a vocal opponent of a fourth round, insisting that further negotiations with Tehran were needed.

But U.S. officials say a Chinese representative made a commitment in a phone call Wednesday with officials of the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to discuss the specifics of a potential Security Council resolution, and that on that basis the U.S. would press ahead with an effort to pass such a measure. The officials cautioned that this does not mean there is a full consensus yet on U.N. sanctions. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the diplomatic talks were ongoing.

"China has agreed to sit down and begin serious negotiations here in New York ... as a first step toward getting the entire U.N. Security Council on board with a tough sanctions regime against Iran," Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the U.N., told CNN.

Qin confirmed that China participated in the conference call.

In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called sanctions an "ineffective" weapon.

"Raising the issue of sanctions is a threat that has shown its ineffectiveness in the past 30 years," the official IRNA news agency quoted Mehmanparast as saying Thursday.

China opposes nuclear weapons for Iran but says it should be allowed to have a civilian nuclear energy program.

Qin said any country that has a nuclear program — even a peaceful one — should be subject to supervision by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency "so as to ensure the program is for a peaceful purpose."

The Obama administration is hoping to get a U.N. resolution on Iran passed by the end of April.

While the details of the possible sanctions remain under discussion, proposals reportedly have included an arms embargo and a ban on new Iranian banks overseas and foreign banks in Iran.

"Of course Iran would be anxious right now," said Yao Jide, an Iran expert at Yunnan University's School of International Relations in southern China. "China will take this opportunity to urge Iran to make transparent its work on the program as bound by the treaties of the IAEA."

Yao doubted that Iran's envoy could take a tough stance during his talks in Beijing.

"There's nothing that they can use to pressure China. China's energy programs have only started in Iran. And China has many programs in Iraq. There are many choices for China. And Iran knows perfectly well that it's not like they are the only oil supplier for China."

China Won't Confirm It's Ready for Iran Sanctions - ABC News