?Iran or America

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS FOR NOVEMBER, 6. TODAY ( Dec. 7). I'VE JUST DELETED IT ACCIDENTALLY WHILE I WANTED TO EDIT IT ! THAT'S WHY IT APPEARS HERE AND NOT IN IT'S OWN PLACE.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates appealed to China for help in curbing Iran's nuclear programme, arguing that a stable Persian Gulf was in the interests of Beijing's energy security.

"An Iran that is a destabilizing force in the region is not in anyone's interest, including in China's," Gates told reporters as he toured the Forbidden City.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart agreed to work together to steer Iran away from its nuclear ambitions in talks that Chinese President Hu Jintao described Tuesday as "very candid and friendly ."

And, with a nod to China's reluctance to support greater economic sanctions against Iran, Gates said he stressed to Cao the importance of using such pressure to convince the Iranian government "to make different choices." Tehran is suspected of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, something it denies.                                                                              

                                                                                                                              Washington Post- 6, November, 2007

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/06/AR2007110600095.html 

     U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates travelled to China for the first time since his taking the office nearly one year ago. If we were following the news, we would see that besides Gates, many other U.S. officials have travelled to China recently. But what’s the purpose Americans are after in China? As the above news suggests, one of the reasons for Americans being there, is to reduce their concerns over Iran’s nuclear programs through negotiating with their Chinese counterparts. They hope to press China to approve harder economic sanctions on Iran. Because both the U.S. and China have the veto right in the U.N. Security Council, China’s consent is also needed for Americans to carry out their intentions and decisions. But contrary to the harsh diplomacies America is following against Iran, China prefers negotiations and peaceful talks for getting this problem done. Thus, U.S. is trying to convince China saying that the sanctions would force the Iranian officials to back down and thus it would make the region more stable that would be “in China’s interest”.

     Today China is getting nearly 12 percent of its energy from the Middle East and specially Iran. If China approves harder sanctions against Iran, tensions would arise in the relationships between the two countries. Any tension of any kind in china-Iran relations is not favorable for the Chinese who are trying to maintain their position the world and who are therefore in great need of energy sources. That’s why they are trying to solve the problem peacefully. China is now facing a major dilemma. On the one hand American markets are of the highest importance for Chinese because if America closes its markets on Chinese products, China’s industry would be troubled and may suffer a lot. On the other hand and as mentioned before, keeping good relations with Iran is also beneficial because it may bring about reaching more energy sources . So the decision that the Chinese would make, basically depends on the fact that siding with which one benefits more: Iran or America