adminGeithner’s visit, which will also take in Japan, comes amid escalating international tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and a day after the United States accused Tehran of “blatant disregard for its responsibilities”.
New US sanctions intended to put further pressure on Iran bar any foreign banks that do business with its central bank – responsible for processing most oil purchases in the Islamic republic – from US financial markets.
But Geithner is likely to encounter strong resistance from China, which buys 20-22 percent of Iran’s crude oil, and has repeatedly opposed the sanctions.
Vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai warned this week against linking China’s trade relations with Iran with Tehran’s nuclear programme, saying Beijing’s “legitimate concerns and demands should be respected”.
A senior Chinese diplomat went further, warning of disastrous consequences if the Iranian nuclear row escalated into conflict.
“Once war starts in this region not only will the relevant nations be affected and attacked, it would also . . . bring disaster to a world economy deep in crisis,” said Chen Xiaodong, a top diplomat on Middle Eastern affairs. Meeting Vice-President Xi Jinping, who is tipped to take over as China’s president next year, Geithner said the United States wanted to build trade ties with the world’s second largest economy.
“We are looking forward to exploring opportunities to expand our exports to China and strengthen and deepen our co-operation with China on a broad range of economic and strategic issues,” he said.
“On economic growth, financial stability around the world, on non-proliferation, we have what we view as a very strong co-operative relationship,” he added.
Geithner was also expected to raise the issue of China’s currency in meetings with Xi and with Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday.
Washington argues that Beijing’s decision to keep the yuan artificially low fuels a flow of cheap exports that helped send the US trade deficit with China to more than US$270 billion in 2010.
But the sanctions are likely to top the agenda for his visit, which comes in the same week the UN atomic watchdog said Iran had begun enriching uranium to up to 20 percent at a new plant in a fortified bunker sunk into a mountain.
Iran, which insists its nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes, has repeatedly said it will not abandon uranium enrichment despite four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions demanding Tehran desist. – AFP.
Online Reporter