(Wall Street Journal Asia) Editorial - China's Ambassador to the UN Zhang Yesui declared last week that it is "too early" for new sanctions on Iran. While China has large commercial interests in Iran, the Chinese leadership's deeper motivation concerns its own power at home. Recent revolutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have rattled Beijing. China's response has been to clamp down on dissent at home and seek to shore up friendly regimes abroad. A further rout of authoritarian regimes could encourage the silent majority at home who would like greater political participation. That's a key reason China supports a rogues' gallery of states, including Sudan, Burma, Cuba and Venezuela. The implication of all this is that the Obama Administration shouldn't wait for China to come around on sanctions, or pre-emptively water them down to meet Chinese approval at the Security Council. The better idea is to form a coalition of the willing outside the UN that bars companies around the world that do business with Iran from access to Western capital markets. This is likely to get Beijing's attention in a way that more diplomatic pleading never will.
2010-01-12 09:54:43Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive