Should China respect sanctions on Iran?

It is not as simple as saying whether to support the embargo or not. There are many factors involved... factors such as;

1) warming relationship with the West (not just US, take EU into consideration too)
2) source for oil. (present moment Iran is a big supplier, another supplier is Russia and if China is to undermine Russia in selling advance weaponries to Iran, Russia will surely be affected and Russia is China's neighbour plus a source for oil, so it is not really very clever to do such a thing).
3) As many has pointed out... China's relationship with Israel. Although I agree with Lion that this relationship doesn't actually matter much.
4) China's relationship with the rest of Middle East. Iran obviously is not a very well liked nation in the middle east, thus by selling advance weaponries to Iran, might strain relationship with other middle eastern nations.

So the main thing now is not wether to support or not to support the embargo, but rather to what extend of support should China give. I am thinking maybe if Iran wanted, China could sell some advance weaponries that might not actually unbalance the region's defences to Iran. These would not set the rest of the middle east into a fit.

And most importantly, China should stay clear of Iran's politics against western countries and should not even mention their nuclear program, etc.

samba said:

Considering that many western companies have outlawed military sales to china, I dont see why china should respect the wests wishes to sanction iran?

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If China wants to it can ban military cooperation with foreign companies. Why on earth retaliate over sales to a third country that both sides agree is causing trouble on the international stage.

Remember that most countries in the world don't sell large amounts of arms to Taiwan because of Chinese opinions. If China uses Iran as a way of showing its displeasure over foreign sanctions maybe those countries should sell arms to Taiwan as a way of showing their displeasure?

no . iran needs to be powerful because it is surrounded by powerful nations. think isarel s 299 f16 and other deadly weapons US has given them. china should support iran with 2000 FC1s and other necessary weapons

skyhawk77 said:

no . iran needs to be powerful because it is surrounded by powerful nations. think isarel s 299 f16 and other deadly weapons US has given them. china should support iran with 2000 FC1s and other necessary weapons

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welcome to the forum, you have lots to learn regarding international relations.

and no iran is kept safe not because of the number of fighters or missiles it has, but because the US is weary of fighting and that Russia and China backs the current regime for their own gains. military is not about acquiring a new fighter jet or missile, even if iran gets the S-300 from Russia it would have very little on the balance of power in the region, its just not the same as giving S-300 to a country like China where surveilance and logistics and training is already there.

selling iran 2000 FC-1? gimme a break....

im so sorry i meant +200 fc1s like pakistani is going to get.

China is little to gain by joining the sanctions in Iran. It imports a considerable amount of oil and natural gas from Iran. Moreover, it has business interest in Iran which needs to be protected. Just stating the obvious. Moreover, there are no or little animosity between China and Iran and so why should it start now.

still, i wouldnt go that way. you are sending the iranians a wrong message and you are sending everyone else a wrong message. i rather see the major powers, namely EU US PRC, dont try to cheat out of this one. bottom line should be, iran not having nukes, and no sanction. if iran does get nukes then it wont benefit PRC because it means PRC will have to give up the oil contract it signed.

Dolcevita said:

China is little to gain by joining the sanctions in Iran. It imports a considerable amount of oil and natural gas from Iran. Moreover, it has business interest in Iran which needs to be protected. Just stating the obvious. Moreover, there are no or little animosity between China and Iran and so why should it start now.

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but its precisely for that reason that China should not be selling arms.

There are two sets of sactions: the UN Security Council sanctions and those imposed separately by the US and its European Sanctions. The first set of sanctions are relatively mild, even though they always get advertised as having "real teeth". They always get watered down when the the US, Britain and France really want to get Russia and China on board.

The second set of sanctions is real. For example, Germany, which once had a large and flourishing amount of trade with Iran, has largely given this up. It is for this reason that China is today Iran's largest trade partner. But in all of its trade, Iran has to get around Western control of world finances.

China, of course, should abide by the existing UN sanctions, since it voted for them. In my view, sanctions generally are aimed at de-stabilizing a regime, and often they are a prelude to war. Those who disagree should at least admit that sanctions often result in instability. But contrary to some Western countries, China gains absolutely nothing from instability in Iran. Rather, it looses from such a development. So instead of supporting cripling sanctions, China should do what it needs to safeguard stability there.

pla101prc said:

but its precisely for that reason that China should not be selling arms.

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I did not say China should sell arms to Iran. By sanctions, i meant
trade in general merchandise and goods.

Nevertheless, there are no binding international sanction of arms to Iran and China should be smart to keep her options open. The Russians are smart to play the arms trade card to their advantage. Americans still aims to contain China if given the chance and China will be smart to keep her options open.