Pompeo’s Warning Against Closer China-Iran Ties Highlights Dilemma for Beijing
VOICE OF AMERICA
…“The Chinese have done pretty well under the status quo,” said Guy Burton, an international affairs professor at Belgium’s Vesalius College. He said the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. military presence in the country have made it stable enough for China to win lucrative contracts to develop Iraq’s oil and gas industry. Such stability could be jeopardized if Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militias step up attacks on the U.S. forces there.
Burton said another factor is China’s interest in not escalating tensions with Washington by aggressively defying U.S. sanctions on Iran. While Beijing remains the top purchaser of Iranian oil, he said it has “very quietly been pulling back” from such oil imports and other investments in Iran over the past year.
