China using Iran to make cold war against U.S. 新专制轴心正在形成

陈凯一语： Kai Chen's Words:

www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com

在专制与自由之间是没有中庸道路可走的。 中国与伊朗的专制性质决定了它们必然的反美反自由的方向与政策。 它们之间的同病相怜与狼狈为奸是不言而喻的。 它们的勾结与相互依存对世界造成的威胁也是不可避免的。 --- 陈凯

There is no compromise or mid-road between tyranny and liberty. The nature of the Chinese communist regime is the same as the nature of the Iranian regime -- destroying freedom to acquire absolute power. Such regimes must oppose America and the free world just to maintain their illegitimate control over their own people. Because of such a despotic nature of these two countries, along with their ambition and cooperation with each other to dominate the world, we must brace for the coming conflict. --- Kai Chen

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China using Iran to make cold war against U.S. 新专制轴心正在形成

By Khosrow B. Semnani

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 12:18 a.m.

With Iranians marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic with another round of protests, it is time for China to align its Iran policy with the long-term interests of the Iranian people. Yet, sadly, as a rising superpower China is treating Iran as a bargaining chip in a great game against the United States.

In recent weeks, China's support for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has assumed a decidedly anti-American tone. Echoing Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the People's Daily, the chief organ of the Chinese Communist Party, attributed the mass protests against Iran's rigged presidential elections as "an instance of naked political scheming" by the United States. Coming in the aftermath of its clash with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Google over censorship and human rights, China blamed the unrest in Iran on "online warfare launched by America via YouTube and Twitter." In this paranoid reading, the United States had stirred up millions of Iranians by sowing "discord between the followers of conservative and reformist factions."

China's assertion that American media are instruments, and the Iranian people stooges, of the United States distorts reality. Such a perspective on Iran, if not corrected, can harm China's relations with the United States and the Iranian people. While China may score political points with Iran's fundamentalists by fueling the myth of the Great Satan, such an Iran policy is not only an affront to President Barack Obama and the American people but an insult to millions of Iranians protesting a bankrupt theocracy founded on fraud, violence, rape and murder.

Although China has officially condemned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as interference in its internal affairs, it does not see its overt support for Ahmadinejad's coup as interference in Iran's domestic affairs. Yet it is China — not the United States — that is harming Iranians by arming Ahmadinejad and his Basij militia with anti-riot gear and vehicles. China is silent about violations of the Iranian people's civil and human rights and refuses to condemn the rape and murder of political prisoners in Kahrizak prison, a crime that even Iran's supreme leader has blamed on his own prison officials, not the United States. Further, it is China whose support for Ahmadinejad's nuclear program at the United Nations encourages Ahmadinejad's belligerent foreign policy, threatens the peace and security of the Middle East, and exposes millions to untold suffering caused by the threat of sanctions and war.

As Iran's largest trading partner, China's alliance with Ahmadinejad is not just bad politics, it is bad economics. China imports 15 percent of its oil from Iran and is responsible for more than 10 percent of Iran's imports. Sinopec, the subsidiary of China's state-owned Shengli Oil Co., has signed a 30-year $70 billion to $100 billion contract for 250 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas. Yet, far from securing its long-term energy needs, China is betting on Ahmadinejad to police its interests. A superpower cannot afford to act like a superpredator. China cannot profit by preying on the Iranian people for oil without losing face for investing in the cheapest of political commodities: Ahmadinejad's future.

Ahmadinejad has damaged Iran enough. China's relations with Iran and the United States should not become a part of the wreckage. Instead of converting Iran into a battleground for a cold war against the United States, China should join the international community by declaring and demonstrating its solidarity with the Iranian people.

Instead of resisting change in Iran, China should welcome it.