Tuesday, January 24, 2012

China should take fight to US over Iran

The US slapped sanctions on China's Zhuhai Zhenrong Company Thursday for engaging in energy deals with Iran. Analysts believe the US was sending a signal to Beijing, after US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner failed to get China's backing on the Iran issue.

China should not bend to US pressure. It needs to come up with deliberate countermeasures, and show deterrence to an arrogant US. The unilateral sanctions were levied under its own amended Iran Sanctions Act, rather than any UN Security Council resolution.

Iran's oil resources and geopolitical value are crucial to China. Chinese companies have the freedom to engage in legal business with Iran's energy sector. It is worth taking on some troubles and even paying a certain price to safeguard this principle.

China should be confident. The US, facing a tough economy and the coming presidential election, cannot afford a trade war with China. It is not set on having a showdown with China just to impose sanctions on Iran. China has adopted anti-sanction measures against the US before, and this time China should demonstrate the same toughness.

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