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Now China Thwarts Obama on Iran

By Philip Klein on 10.15.09 @ 9:45AM

Yesterday, I noted how Russia had announced opposition to tougher sanctions against Iran, despite liberals' insistence that the Obama administration's conciliatory approach would get Russia onboard. The other key nation in this equation is China, which the Obama administration has also appeased, in part so that it will keep financing his deficit spending. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused to press China on its human rights abuses earlier this year, and more recently President Obama refused to meet the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan leader visited Washington. Unfortunately for Obama, his overtures to China were even less successful than his capitulation to Russia, as the Wall Street Journal reports:

BEIJING – China praised its growing energy and trade ties with Iran in remarks that further diminished hopes that China will support efforts by the U.S. and its allies to line up sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

"The Sino-Iran relationship has witnessed rapid development, as the two countries' leaders have had frequent exchanges, and cooperation in trade and energy has widened and deepened," China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday in a meeting with visiting Iranian Vice President Reza Rahimi, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency. Mr. Rahimi is in Beijing along with the heads of Russia and Central Asian countries who are members of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organization.